Beauty in the Every Day
by angelena78
Summary: Picking up a few years after the end of Fumbling Forward, Joan & Arthur keep up the good fight to balance work, romance, &family as they move through their daughter's adolescence. There are good days and bad days, but overall this power family still tries to find time to appreciate family and pursue individual lives. AU: Nothing's mine but Maia
1. Chapter 1

_When I ended Fumbling Forward I thought that was it for me for a good while. But then I missed the characters. I think I also worried about continuing to write something that followed Joan & Arthur while USA played out their own script for the characters, because even though what I'm writing is fanfic, it's still a little hard for me to think about getting invested in the show story line and another one that could be way off since I just tune in each week to see what's up with the Covert Affairs cast. In the end I decided to dive in and start a new story that picks up a little while after Fumbling Forward left off. I might go back and forth with the time. I'm not really sure where this will take me. And if everything gets too wonky in my own head I'll probably wait until the season is over or a mid-season break to pick back up again. But I'll try to give some warning if that's going to happen. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy where this new story takes Joan, Arthur, and Maia. & as always, thanks for reading along!_

**Chapter 1: Crisis Management**

"Joan," he called out as he walked straight into her office without waiting for her to respond to his knocking.

She put down the file she was flipping through - irritated that he always acted like any news he had was an emergency that meant he could leave all professional courtesies behind when he came into her office. "One day I hope you'll surprise me and actually knock and wait for me to let you in here," Joan reprimanded him as she swung around in her desk chair so that she was facing the only person in The Agency who would just barge right into her office. As she swung around she put a flirty smile on her face, because as irritating as she found some of her husband's impulsive and borderline arrogant actions, she still loved him just as much or more than she did on their wedding day. As her eyes met his, however, the smile on her face vanished. Arthur was clearly trying to hold everything together. His dress shirt and suit were still crisp and fit him perfectly, and as he'd stormed down to Joan's floor and through the DPD everyone who watched him pass by thought nothing of his appearance. He looked like a powerful man on a mission. But Joan saw that the urgency with which he burst into her office, coupled with the wild, anxious way his eyes looked were much more informative than his overall appearance. Something was most definitely wrong. And for a man trained to handle crises, and who had handled quite a number of crises, something must be very very wrong for him to be this worked up. She took a sharp breath in before asking him, "What is it? What's wrong?"

Striding over to her desk and putting his palms flat on the surface Arthur allowed the desk to bear some of his weight as he took a couple of breaths.

Standing up on the other side of the desk, Joan reached out and put a hand on her husband's shoulder, rubbing it as she asked him again, "What's wrong Arthur?" She'd seen him worked up at work before, the nature of his job was such that sometimes everything just sucked and was a crisis all at the same time. But usually he was unflappable, and even when he succumbed to emotions he didn't get quite this worked up.

Pushing himself back up so he could look at his wife, he paused and watched her. Usually he had trouble just looking her in the eye; his own eyes always wanted to spend some time taking in all the rest of her. But as he stood up and looked at his wife's face his gaze stuck there. Furrowed brow and a pressing, worried look in her eyes he could see that she was clearly concerned about what was going on in his head. "Joan," he said to her quietly again, "We need to talk."

Cocking her head to one side as she tried to figure out what was going on, Joan looked into Arthur's piercing blue eyes and where there was usually deep emotion of some sort, what she reflected there now was exhaustion. "Okay," she spoke to him gently, "do you want to sit down?" Usually very much in charge of just about every situation she was in, Joan felt nervous now, unsure of how to help her husband, unsure of what was eating at him.

He shook his head and straightened his tie. But then he walked over to her office sofa and tossed himself onto it. Positioning himself like he was some sort of cartoon version of himself laying on a therapist's couch, Joan watched him with concern but also amusement. She wasn't used to seeing her husband this much of a mess. "Arthur - are we going to be talking about politics, work, us, Maia, some scandal - what? Give me a little something to work with so I can at least prepare myself for what's about to come," she demanded- pressing him for some information.

"I don't know. All of it?" he called out from the sofa.

"Ar-thur! You can't just burst in here and say we have to talk and then just lay on my sofa and _not_ talk. What is going on?" Joan asked him - irritation creeping into her voice.

"I just got off the phone with our daughter," Arthur blurted out after sighing deeply.

"AND?!" Joan practically shouted at him, her own anxiety shooting through the roof once she knew they were talking about their daughter. A moment later she realized what Arthur had said about what they were talking about, "How is you talking to Maia connected to everything else?-you said it was about all of - politics, work, a scandal, and us?" Joan was getting worked up and she still didn't even know why. Maia was only 14. How anything about her connected to all of that in a way to get Arthur this worked up was outside of Joan's realm of possible understanding.

"We've lost her," he said dramatically.

Joan shot out of her chair then, "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? HOW? WHERE?" she shouted at him. Before he could even respond she added, "WHY ARE YOU JUST LAYING THERE - GO FIND HER!"

"JOAN!" Arthur finally hollered back at her, as he sat up on the sofa.

"Oh don't you dare "Joan," me!" she shouted at him derisively - a hard edge in her voice. As she threw her hands up in the air to indicate to her husband just how urgent the situation was.

"I mean - we didn't physically lose her - just otherwise," Arthur said - trying to explain himself a little but doing a pretty poor job of it.

"Arthur," Joan warned - her voice no longer raised, but instead tense, icy, and uncharacteristically low, "If you don't cut the crap and tell me _exactly_ what you are talking all hell is going to break loose in this office, and I won't care one iota that everyone in the DPD will be able to see me take you out." She stood there then with her arms crossed across her chest, glaring at her husband. If a look could force an action to occur, this was a look aimed at forcing Arthur to clear up what he meant when he told her that they'd lost their daughter.

Arthur rubbed his hands over his face and gave himself a moment to mentally pull himself together. "She wants to go out with an older guy who I frankly think is some kind of pedophile! I mean who else tries to seduce a fourteen year old?!" he finally shouted at his wife, "I can't believe this is happening!"

Joan kept her harsh stance across the room from her husband. Huffing a little, she spoke again - just as icily as before, "Arthur Campbell, I'm going to ask you one more time - what the hell are you talking about?"

When Arthur didn't respond right away she tapped her foot a little to pressure him to talk. "She called me. She asked me if, as the daughter of two CIA employees, she was allowed to date a foreign national!" he exclaimed as he flopped against the back of the sofa.

Joan smiled then, and not too slowly that smile grew to a grin. Crossing the room, she stood over Arthur. Looking down at her husband - who was clearly in quite the anguished state - she raised a single, perfectly shaped eyebrow at him before gently asking him, "Are you trying to tell me that our daughter got asked out on a date?" When all Arthur did was nod at first, Joan rolled her eyes and then let a laugh escape.

"I'm sorry Arthur," she said not too seriously as she sat down next to him on the sofa. "I don't mean to be laughing at you," she said as she continued to laugh, "but you really made me think that either we were on the brink of nuclear war or that our daughter had been kidnapped by some terrorist organization. But the only thing that has happened is that some boy likes her?"

"You say it like it's a good thing!" Arthur exclaimed, "Do you know what boys do with girls? Do you know why boys ask girls out? I think I should tell her she's not allowed to go."

Joan looked at her husband, unabashedly amused at just how much the prospect of his fourteen year old daughter dating bothered him. "You didn't give her an answer to her question?!" Joan asked him as she gave him a little glare then.

"Definitely not!" Arthur told his wife, "Why would I give her permission to date anyone - let alone a foreign national! I told her I'd have to check out the policy and that I'd get back to her!"

"Your daughter gets asked out on what is presumably her FIRST date and you tell her that you don't know if she can GO?!" Joan nearly shouted at him. "Arthur you're terrible! This is a big deal to her and you're just freaking out and ruining it!"

"So you want our little girl to go and let some boy we don't even know get to know her in, you know, Biblical ways?" Arthur asked his wife. His voice and actions suggested that the alarmist and overly dramatic ways he was talking were actual reflections of his feelings, and that he had completely gone over the edge on this.

"First, I am willing to bet you whatever you want that Maia is NOT asking you if she can go have sex with some boy. Second, Arthur Campbell what has gotten into you? From the guy who started dating his second wife while he was still married to his first wife, it's pretty ironic that now you're referring to sex as getting to know someone Biblically," Joan told her husband as she tried to help him see just how insane he was acting.

"I cannot believe you are so calm about this Joan! Did I mention that he's a JUNIOR?! He has a car!" Arthur protested, "You want her to - fine, I'll say it - have sex with some random boy?" He shuddered as he said the last phrase.

Joan squeezed Arthur's knee then and told him, "No. I do not want her to have sex with any random boy, but I think she's just asking if she can go on a date, not do anything more than go somewhere with a boy from school." Pausing there to see if any of what she was saying was sinking in, Joan continued after not getting any more crazy claims from Arthur.

"Who is the boy anyway?" Joan then asked.

Arthur thought for a moment before saying, "I don't know." He realized that when Maia had asked her question about dating a foreign national, he'd flipped out so much that he hadn't even asked who the boy was. "I didn't even ask," he admitted out loud.

Rolling her eyes Joan smacked him on the thigh then, "Seriously?!"

"Seriously," he repeated back to her - this time as if he was in a daze.

Joan just stared at him, not quite sure what to do next with him. She could clearly see that she was going to need to follow up with their daughter - not only to smooth out whatever mess of a way Arthur had handled the actual call, but also to get information from her about who the boy was and whatever the plans were for this date. Adolescence, Joan thought to herself, was clearly going to be a rough ride for her husband. Sighing a little and smiling to herself she leaned back on the sofa so that her shoulders rubbed up against Arthur's. "She has to grow up you know," she commented quietly.

"Maybe," Arthur finally admitted. "But I don't like it. I want her to stay little and uninterested in boys forever," Arthur lamented.

"Ar-thur," Joan scolded him sweetly, "You can't keep her little forever. And you can't worry so much. She's a good kid; she'll make good decisions." She hoped that his silence after she spoke was a sign that he agreed with her.

Arthur tried to hear what his wife was telling him, but he was still worried and sad that Maia was growing up. "But Joan, what if she doesn't make good decisions? Or what if she does and some boy hurts her?" he asked - the concern clear in his voice.

"Well," she said thoughtfully, "Then that's what you and I are here for."

"I hate being the response team," Arthur huffed.

Joan chuckled at Arthur's perspective. Then with a cautionary tone she told him, "But Arthur if you freak out about her even asking about going out with a boy it'll make it harder for her to come to us if she gets hurt, or if she needs advice. You've got to relax a little."

"I can't," he sighed.

"You have to. But for now - just let me handle things with Maia so I can clean up anything you did when you talked to her," she suggested as she sat up and looked down at Arthur who was still laying against the sofa with his eyes looking straight up at the ceiling.

He didn't move and so she slapped him lightly on the knee before standing. "Arthur - get up and go back to work. It'll all be fine," Joan told him as she reached her hand out towards him. He took her hand, and as she pulled on it he relented and got himself back in the upright standing position.

"Thanks," he said softly as he looked at his wife.

"You're welcome," she said as she pecked him on the cheek, before turning him around and giving him a little push toward the door. "Now pull yourself together and go back to being the boss!"

He turned his head and flashed his wife a grin. "Maybe later I can boss you around in other ways?"

"Maybe later you can thank me for cleaning up your parenting messes," she told him before waving her hand at him to shoo him out the door.

He rolled his eyes then, "You're a piece of work Joan Campbell," he said as he opened the door. She stopped then and stared at her husband who seemed to be back to his normal self. "Only because I have to be married to you," she replied. Then she turned away from him and walked back to her desk chair. He watched her walk, enjoying the way her charcoal dress hugged all the curves on her body. She could feel his eyes on her. "Work Arthur!" she called out without even lifting her eyes to look at him. Sighing again, but for a different reason than all the sighing he'd done about Maia growing up, Arthur shook his head and let himself out of her office.

As he closed the door softly behind him, Joan shook her head and smiled. Her husband was pretty adorable, even if he was also causing unnecessary drama in their daughter's life. Still, Joan appreciated how protective Arthur was of Maia. Arthur had panicked when they'd found out they were having a baby girl Arthur. He was sure he wouldn't know what to do with a girl. Joan had reassured him then that he could do the same things he would do with a boy, and that he'd be a great daddy to a little girl. He hadn't believed her initially, but once Maia was born absolutely everyone could see just how in love he was with his daughter. As Maia grew up he'd been amazed by everything she did, and it became apparent to everyone then that Maia was equally head over heels for her father as he was for her. The father-daughter duo did just about everything together when he was home. He taught her about sports, how to ride a bike, and engaged her in conversations about geopolitics before she even could say the word geopolitics - teaching her about politics and countries, and the function of context. A lot of the time he was teaching, but not always. He also let her be the leader; he attended countless tea parties with her dolls and stuffed animals, and he let her and her cousin do his hair and put make up on him. He'd spent hours coloring with her or playing outside with her, and whenever they were vacationing, he was the one in the pool tossing her around, racing her, and playing with her while Joan lounged on the side and watched them.

Pre-adolescence and adolescence were harder on Arthur than Joan. Maia didn't play so much anymore, and so he couldn't just join her games. They'd still watch TV and sports together, but while sports viewing remained the same, Maia wasn't watching cartoons anymore. Instead she was watching shows that addressed more serious issues - whether comedies or dramas relationship issues, drugs, alcohol, mental illness and ethics were common themes. And so instead of laughing on the sofa together and cartoons, they were having to navigate how to watch these more serious issues together and Arthur was having to figure out how to respond to Maia's questions and judgments of the characters that weren't always in line with his own. Their conversations got more serious and complex outside of TV too; Maia could hold her own in a lot of current events conversations now, and she had a strong emerging set of principles that she let guide her debates with her dad about world events and current events in the States. But she was also spending more and more time with her friends or online, and so the time she had to have these conversations with her dad was getting less and less. Dating was just one more thing that was going to take Maia away from him, and thinking about it this way Joan could see why it was all so hard on Arthur. Before Maia'd even gone on a date Arthur could see all that he stood to lose. Joan sighed again and decided that she'd have to talk about this with Arthur later - and also maybe with Maia. Maia and Arthur were great buddies and Joan wanted to do what she could to help them preserve that part of their relationship. She sent her daughter a quick message saying that she'd talked to her father and there were no Agency policies regarding her dating life, but that their might be family ones so they should talk that evening. Then realizing that might have come off too cold, Joan sent a second message saying that she was excited for her being asked out on a date and that she wanted to hear all the details that evening too.


	2. Chapter 2 - We've Got Growing Up To Do

_Sorry for the delay in updating this story! This chapter took longer to knock out than I thought it would. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 2: We've Got Growing Up to Do**

Maia grinned when her phone flashed the message from her mother saying that there wasn't a policy about her dating a non-American. When she got the second message she blushed deeply at the thought of talking to her mom about all the details. With the exception of the time she thought her mother was having an affair with Seth, Maia would have always said that she was close to her mother. She was. But while the two would have occasional heart to heart conversations, Maia saw how some of her girlfriends chatted with their mothers like they were friends. Maia had that chatty relationship with her dad, but with her mother it wasn't that they didn't talk, they did - but their relationship was built less on their conversations and more on love expressed through snuggling on the sofa watching movies, shopping together, or in little gestures her mother made like continuing to cut the crusts off her sandwiches and toast, or serving breakfast for dinner when she'd a rough day. These little gestures demonstrated just how in tune Joan was with Maia's preferences, even though they didn't have the playful or chatty relationship that Maia had with her dad or her girlfriends had with their mothers.

Over the past few years, however, her mom had started taking her to lunch once a month - just the two of them. They'd try different restaurants that sounded interesting or had been recently written up positively. When Joan instituted the practice, Maia had been delighted but suspicious. "Mom, what's up? Is there some sort of news you're preparing me for?" her 12-year old self had asked her mother.

Joan had been startled by her daughter's question, and so it took her a moment to recover before just shaking her head as Maia slid into the passenger seat of the car. "Nope," she finally verbalized, "I just thought we needed some mother-daughter time."

Maia threw her mother a still suspicious glance. It was a quick glance, but it didn't go unnoticed by the ever watchful and observant Joan. Keeping her eyes on the road, Joan called her daughter out, "I saw that look Maia." After a momentary pause during which time Maia blushed a deep shade of red, Joan continued, "Spill it - what are you really thinking?"

"I hate that you can see me even when I'm not looking at you," Maia pouted but without whining because mostly she was intrigued by this side of her mother that seemed to be inviting her to just talk with her like they were girlfriends.

"That's not what you were really thinking Mai," Joan said in a teasing voice while still keeping her eyes on the road.

Maia didn't say anything but instead turned and stared at her mother as she continued to wonder just how her mother always seemed to one step ahead of her. With her hair falling in loose waves over her shoulder and perfectly manicured nails clasped around the steering wheel, Maia smiled a little before turning back toward the front windshield and staring at the road in front of them. They had the same hair that day. Maia's hair was naturally more wavy - well more so than Joan's, but Joan often kept her own hair in curls. On that day both mother and daughter had their hair in loose waves that they were falling down their backs. Joan's hair was side parted, and Maia had part of her hair pulled back, with the rest of it fluttering over her shoulders. Popping on her sunglasses then, Maia kept her own eyes facing forward and hoped that the sunglasses could work like a shield from her mother's mind reading abilities.

"_What_ are you doing Maia?" Joan asked then in a playful tone.

"Trying to block you from being able to read my mind," Maia got out before she couldn't help but laugh a little. Out of the corner of her eye Maia could see that her mother was smiling and trying to suppress a laugh too.

"What are you talking about? If I could read your mind I wouldn't be asking you what you're thinking?" Joan protested.

"Mo-om - whatever - you know you know more than you let on when you use your spy skills on me to decide when I'm not being forthcoming!" Maia shot back at her mother.

"Okay fine - I know you're not telling me what you're thinking, but I don't actually know what you're thinking," Joan admitted as she continued to keep her eyes solely on the road.

Maia huffed then, but with a smile on her face, "I'm thinking this is super random that we're having lunch together and you don't have some other agenda. What's the motive behind all this mom?"

Maia was earnest when she asked the question, and Joan could tell that - not because of any spy skills, just good mother radar. "Well, I guess the motive was to start something that could be a tradition for us so that even as you grow up and get busy with your own life we make time to catch up with each other," Joan tried to tell her daughter nonchalantly. The truth was, however, that Joan felt anything but nonchalant in admitting this. Just a few months before Joan and Maia had gone through a particularly rough patch in their relationship. Maia had thought that her mother was cheating on her father with a guy named Seth Newman. This thinking led Maia to give her mother the cold shoulder for months, and ultimately to spy on her before accusing her of not being a good mother and having an affair. And then Maia had run away.

Although she and Maia patched things up pretty nicely afterwards, Maia's accusations had stuck with Joan long after they'd reconciled. Joan had spent a fair amount of time thinking about what to do to avoid a similar situation happening again, and she'd decided that part of the issue with her and Maia was that they didn't talk to each other that much. It wasn't that they weren't close, or that they didn't talk - they did, in fact they were actually more likely to have heart-to-heart conversations than Maia and Arthur were, but Joan was naturally shy with emotions and she was worried about what that would mean as Maia made her way through adolescence. In a conversation one night Joan had told Arthur that she was worried about herself and Maia. Ever the one living in the moment, Arthur had been confused, insisting that things were normal right then. Joan agreed that in the moment everything was fine, but what she wanted Arthur to understand was that even though they were OK in the moment her own shyness and strictness with Maia worried her. Arthur had then looked even more confused. Joan tried to explain, and ultimately Arthur seemed to understand. Joan was afraid that Maia's perception of her as emotionally reserved and critical would mean that she wouldn't feel comfortable talking to her about things that might come up for her as a teenager - from boys, to peer pressure, to all sorts of other things that Joan thought a girl should probably be able to talk to her mother about. Deciding that it would be just too much to do anything too drastic - for both Maia and herself - these once a month lunches were Joan's idea for helping to transition Maia into seeing her differently, as more approachable. And truthfully Joan was looking forward to to this one-on-one time with her daughter. Where Arthur and Maia had always been able to bond over everything, she found it more difficult to do - perhaps because of all of her worries about everything. But with Maia being older they could really talk now, and so making this time for that seemed exciting to Joan.

"We're going to do this a lot then?" Maia asked her mother suspiciously. When she saw the way her mother whipped her head around to look at her before looking back at the road, Maia realized that maybe that wasn't the right response to have. She just couldn't help asking; it just seemed so out of character for her mother to be making time for them to just hang out like friends.

"Well if you don't think it's a good idea then we don't have to," Joan offered quietly then.

"Mom, that's not what I meant. I think it's a really nice idea. I'm just, like - I guess I'm just surprised," Maia offered quickly as she tried to fix what she felt like she'd undone in her mother.

"Mai - I just want to make sure we always have a space to talk, so you can always ask what you want to, and so I can't really run away," Joan said before pausing momentarily. Maia didn't interject anything, but instead blushed thinking about what had happened when she'd run off to New York. And so Joan continued, "I don't want anything like what happened before to happen again, and so I thought it would be good if we had a regular time to talk, even if it was only like once a month. Plus, now that you're getting more grown up I thought we should try out doing things together like grown ups, not just like mother daughter stuff."

Maia rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses before taking them off and teasing her mother, "You sound like a hallmark greeting card mom." But then she quickly added on, "And mom, I think it's an awesome idea. Where are we going to eat?"

Joan took her eyes off the road to glance over at her daughter and smiled, before she told her, "Cafe Sorriso - by the zoo."

"The one with all the gelato?!" Maia asked excitedly.

"Yup. That's the one. I knew you always liked that place," Joan commented. Relaxing a little since it seemed like her lunch spot choice was a good one she added, "Hey Mai, I'm glad we're doing this. I don't want to miss out on you growing up."

Maia turned to look at her mother. This woman who she'd always looked up to and loved, and worried over displeasing was, for the first time, looking more like just a person to her. "There's no way you'd miss out on me growing up mom. I know you'd never let that happen," Maia offered quietly as she tried to reassure her mother.

Since then & for the past two years Joan and Maia had been lunching at least once a month, and over time what started out as sort of awkward conversations where Joan worked to draw Maia out, became conversations that both Joan and Maia looked forward to and readily engaged in. Seeing her mother as a person, as a woman who'd gone through her own adolescence and who struggled to balance family, work, and relationships helped Maia feel more normal, and like she had an ally as she made her own way through school, life, and growing up. So when Joan messaged Maia about wanting to hear about her potential date, Maia was a little embarrassed because the moment had been a private one for her and talking about it was going to make it more real - but she was nonetheless pleased that her mother wanted to know what had happened.

* * *

Joan pulled into her driveway a little after 6 that evening. When she'd left the office Arthur was still there and didn't think he'd be home until about 8. Just as well, she'd thought to herself, she needed to talk to Maia and it would be easier to do if Arthur and all his nervous energy stayed away until the conversation was over. Before she'd left him in his office, however, Joan had forced him into a conversation about parameters for their daughter's dating life.

"Do we really have to have this conversation now Joan?" he'd protested.

"Yes," she'd been firm, "Maia is at home waiting to see if she has permission to go, and some boy is probably also nervous about whether or not she will say yes to him - we can't keep them waiting until whenever you are ready to talk."

Sighing deeply and knowing that Joan was right, but not liking it anymore Arthur finally offered, "How about you decide if she can go with this _particular_ boy, but she has to tell us exactly where they're going, they have to be back by 11, we have to meet the boy in advance, and no touching!"

Joan rolled her eyes before assenting to some of his parameters, "Fine - on all accounts except for the touching. You can't dictate terms like that. You don't want her to be some sort of social pariah because she has to stay an arm's length from every boy."

"I'd rather her be an outcast than have her groped by some boy," Arthur scoffed.

"You do not want her to be an outcast. You're just being ridiculous and scared of her growing up," Joan said as she softly tried to bring her husband around to see just how crazy he was being. "I'm going to talk to her about the other parameters - and you're going to be polite to the boy when he comes by to meet us," Joan explained to him as she reached out and took his hand, squeezing it in a way to reassure him that everything was going to be okay. Arthur hadn't said anything in response, but he squeezed her hand back.

Joan recounted this interaction and smiled a little at how nervous and over protective Arthur was being of Maia. Letting herself into her house, she swung by the home office to drop off her bag, before heading into her bedroom to change her clothes. Slipping into some dark jeans, a cobalt blue Marc by Marc Jacobs scoop neck shirt, and black flats with a cobalt blue capped toe. Grabbing a gray, open front cardigan on her way out the door, Joan ran her fingers through her hair as she headed back down the hall to find her daughter.

With her headphones on and her back to her bedroom door, Maia hadn't heard her mother come home, and she didn't notice that her mother was standing in her doorway. Rather than just knocking and calling out to her daughter, Joan leaned on the doorframe and just let herself watch her daughter. Maia's hair was still long - as it was when she was younger. She'd straightened it out that morning, just curling the ends under a bit. Her glossy blonde hair was the most prominent feature in Joan's view at the moment, but Joan smiled because it was bouncing around as Maia danced a little in her desk chair to whatever music she had in her headphones. Her biology book and notes were in front of her, and her laptop was open. And apparently she had her friend Sadie on Skype on her computer, because it was Sadie who saw Joan first. "Mo-om!," Maia had exclaimed as she pulled her headphones off and plopped them on the desk. Then she turned around and typed in what was apparently a message to Sadie that she had to go, because Joan just got in a quick wave to Sadie before her picture disappeared from the screen.

Joan raised an eyebrow at Maia. She didn't understand how her daughter could do homework, listen to music, and Skype with a friend all at the same time. Maia knew exactly what that raised eyebrow was about, "I'm a new generation mom, don't worry so much about my multitasking abilities!" she tried to playfully remind her mother.

"It's not your multitasking abilities I'm worried about. I just think you might actually learn more easily if you weren't try to do so much at the same time," Joan commented as she tried not to come off like she was scolding her only child.

"Maybe. But my grades have always been good - and they still are mom - so how about when I start struggling then I'll try your way," Maia offered.

"Deal," Joan said, relenting. Maia smiled then as she took a turn at being the one with the raised eyebrows.

"What?" Joan asked her daughter when she saw Maia's right eyebrow go up.

"Come on mom, you know you have things to tell me and ask me," Maia said as she rolled her eyes a little bit.

"Oh yeah. That. You can go," and that was all Joan got out before Maia launched herself from her desk chair toward her mother, wrapping her up in a bear hug and thanking her.

After Joan recovered from the surprise of the hug attack, she pulled back from her daughter and told her, "BUT there are some ground rules."

"I wouldn't expect anything less!" Maia replied as she grinned at her mother and did a happy little twirl before asking, "So - what are they?"

"Well - you have to tell us exactly where you're going. You have to be home by 11. Your dad and I need to meet this boy before you go out, and I have to approve of the boy before this whole plan gets set in motion," Joan told her daughter firmly before cracking a smile and telling her, "And your father would prefer if you stay an arm's length from each other at all times."

Maia laughed out loud then and rolled her eyes. "Deal?" Joan asked her then.

"Deal," Maia responded as she nodded her head.

"Okay then, come out to the kitchen to keep me company while I get some dinner together? -and you can tell me about who this boy is and all the other details that your dad couldn't hear because he was so panicked that you were interested in boys," Joan told Maia.

"You have no idea, "Maia said in reference to how things had gone on the phone with her dad. As Maia followed her mother out of her bedroom and towards the kitchen she told her mom, "I'm glad you were there to help him calm down."

* * *

Joan put Maia to work setting the table and making salad while she put together some dinner. Glancing over at Maia as she laid out silverware on the table she smiled at her daughter. She was dressed casually in skinny jeans and a collection cashmere dot sweater - gray herringbone with mango dots. Even in what was essentially weekend wear, Maia was pretty enough to make it hard to look away from her. She'd shot up in height recently. She was still growing, but was almost Joan and Maia were almost the same height now. Joan had relented and let Maia wear make up when she started high school, and after a good amount of education Maia mastered how to use makeup to look naturally pretty rather than painted up some like doll. That, plus her natural good looks and her sense of style made her an exceptionally attractive girl - and her sweet personality that balanced silly and series just added to her attractiveness. No wonder someone had asked her out, Joan thought. "Mai," she called out to her daughter, "So - tell me about this boy - who is he?"

Maia paused before spinning around toward her mother. She bit her lower lip and blushed a little before she telling Joan, "His name is Marc. He's a junior, and he's from Mexico, but he'd been in the States for the past five years." Maia stopped talking for a moment and looked at her mother, who gave her a little head nod and gestured for her to keep talking. "He's really smart mom, and nice, and cute" Maia said as she blushed before then telling her mother, "He asked me if I wanted to go see a movie with him this Friday night in Bethesda near where his family lives. It's just dinner in town there and then a movie. And if you don't want him to drive, we can take the metro - everything we're going to is right off the red line."

Joan chuckled a little at Maia's offer to take the metro rather than having her ride with Marc in his car. "We'll talk to your dad about transportation," Joan told her before adding, "I'm really happy for you. You seem really happy about this." Maia blushed (again) and nodded. Joan took this nonverbal response from Maia as an opportunity to keep talking, so she asked, "Hey, how did you get to know this junior guy?"

Maia blushed again. Apparently that was going to be the theme of this conversation - her blushing. "We're in math together," she said shyly, "We're partners on our math projects for the year"

"Wow!" Joan exclaimed as she burst out laughing. This reaction confused Maia and she threw her mother a questioning look as she watched her mother have to wipe away tears she was laughing so hard.

"What are you laughing about mom?" she asked her mother. Once Joan pulled herself together she was able to ask her daughter, "You mean your pre-calc class?"

"Yes?" Maia replied, still confused about how math was something this hilarious.

"Well you know it was your dad who really pushed for you to do that junior high fast math that got you on track to take pre-calc your freshman year of high school," Joan explained before bursting into laughter again.

A smile widened across Maia's face then too, "So you're saying it's because of dad that I ended up in class and able to meet Marc?"

Joan nodded then, unable to make words. She was still laughing. She couldn't wait to tell Arthur that he'd been responsible for this whole situation.

* * *

Once Joan and Maia got over thinking about how Arthur was going to take the idea that he'd created the situation for Marc and Maia to meet, they got down to the details. Joan realized she and Arthur had already met Marc when he'd come over to do math homework with Maia. Their math teacher had paired them up at the beginning of the year, and each week a different partnership would teach their peers about the key ideas of one topic, explaining how it fit with other concepts they were learning and built on what they knew from Algebra I and II. Maia and Marc had been working for weeks on a project on conic sections that they'd be presenting in a week in their math class.

Joan had liked Marc when she'd met him on the few occasions when he'd been at their house working on math with Maia. He was polite and adorable. Tall, dark, and handsome - features he'd inherited from his parents. His father was a Mexican business executive from Monterrey who moved his family to the States when the drug cartel violence erupted. They'd lived in the States for the past five years - first in San Antonio and then in DC. His family maintained a home in Monterrey, but it was only for his father who continued to travel back and forth to Mexico. He spent the week there, returning on the weekends and making his wife and two children nervous all the time he was there. He would have preferred it to be different, but the travel and accompanying fear was a reality they'd lived with for the past five years. At least, Marc's father thought, his wife and children were safe in America. Marc's mother was actually the impetus for their move to DC. Educated at the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon in cultural anthropology and international relations, and fluent in English, Spanish, and French, she'd been snapped up by the Mexican Cultural Institute - overseen by the Mexican Embassy in DC. Education was of utmost importance to Marc's family and so that was why they'd enrolled both Marc and his younger sister in the same school that Maia attended. All of these details made Joan feel better and better about this potential new boyfriend of Maia's. A family that was focused on family, that was well educated, and that was worldly made Joan think that she and Arthur could get along well with Marc's parents. But then she had to stop herself, she didn't want to get ahead of herself in thinking about this yet to be real relationship between Maia and Marc. Still - it made Joan feel good to know that she'd already met and liked Marc, and that he seemed like he came from a good family.

Joan closed out her quizzing of Maia about Marc and what Maia liked about Marc - mostly that he was smart, funny, and didn't treat her like a little kid even though she was just a freshman and he was a junior. Both Maia and Joan were pleased with how the conversation had gone - not only because they both seemed happy with the idea of Marc, but because it had been an exchange of serious information but it remained lighthearted. Maia had sat herself down at the kitchen table during the conversation, and once Joan had dinner simmering on the stove, she sat down across form Maia. In a more serious tone she said to her daughter, "Sweetheart, I'm really excited for you and this date, but your dad is kind of nervous." Maia's eyes shot up from looking down to looking straight at her mother. Was her mother going to tell her that her dad was going to keep her from going out with Marc, she wondered

Joan saw Maia's reaction and she smiled at her and told her, "I'm not going to let him stand in the way of you growing up," she reassured her daughter who breathed a sigh of relief. "But," Joan continued in a still serious tone, "Mai I think your dad is just afraid of losing you, so be patient with him as we talk about all this stuff okay?"

"How could he think he'd lose me mom? It's only one date! It's not like I'm moving in with Marc or anything!" Maia responded. She'd anticipated that her dad would be overprotective, but this level of anxiety was something that surprised even her.

"Maia, he's already moved on to that idea - but DO NOT even joke with him about it, I'm fairly certain he won't take it well," Joan admonished her daughter gently. Maia rolled her eyes and nodded, as Joan relayed just how upset and worked up Arthur had been when he'd burst into her office saying that they'd lost Maia. Maia's eyes grew wider and wider as Joan shared what had happened earlier that day.

When Joan finished talking Maia was quiet for awhile. "What do you think I should do?" Maia finally asked her mother.

Joan's dimples appeared as she smiled at her daughter's earnest question. "I'm not sure there's one definite thing you should do," Joan started. "I'm really glad you want to do something though; your dad loves you more than anything and I think you growing up has been really hard on him. I think he misses Saturday morning cartoons and tea parties with you."

"Mo-om, I'm not 7 anymore!" Maia protested, "And we do hang out - just while we watch Modern Family, Game of Thrones, or football!" And it was true - they did hang out.

Joan agreed that they did those things, but also pointed out, "I know you guys hang out, I just think that your dad is worried that you'll have less and less time for him, and that's hard on him - even if it's just part of you growing up. You have no idea how much being a father means to him." And Maia really didn't - she knew that her dad loved her to death, and she knew that he was always up to spending his free time doing whatever Maia wanted. But unlike Joan, Maia didn't know how before she'd been born her father wasn't nearly as tied to home. He was at work even more than he was since she'd been born, he'd been a little ethically sketchy, and he and Joan had spent a good amount of time at odds with each other. Since Maia was born Arthur had taken his father role seriously, trying to be home as much as possible, trying to do everything to make the world a better place for his daughter, and listening more to Joan than ever before. He'd really wanted them to be a picture perfect family, and where he'd been more unwilling to compromise when it was just him and Joan, with Maia in the picture he did everything he could to try to make things work for him, Joan, and Maia.

Maia mulled over what her mother said before she offered, "Okay. I don't think he really needs to worry though, it wouldn't be a Sunday in the fall if dad and I weren't weren't watching football all afternoon together and screaming at the TV. So at least through football season, he's got quality time with me every Sunday!" she laughed as she told her mom.

Joan smiled at her daughter then, "Good. And sweetheart don't worry too much about your dad, he'll come through all this adolescence stuff okay. I'll help him out with that - but I just want you to be aware of the fact that your dad is nervous, and to remind you how much he values his time with you."

Maia rolled her eyes then, but instead of a sarcastic glint in her eyes, Joan could see a twinkle there that let her know just how pleased Maia was that her dad was as worried as he was. Telling her mom that she needed to get a little more homework done before her dad came home for dinner, Maia excused herself. And while she did go do so some homework, she also tried to think about what she could do to make her dad feel less worried. It was endearing, but she also wanted to make sure he didn't worry unnecessarily.

* * *

_Have to stop here to do some writing for my job. But the next chapter should be up in the next few days and it'll bring the whole family to the table for the conversation about Maia's date, and it'll follow the actual date itself. :) _


	3. Chapter 3 - Different LIves

**Chapter 3: Aunque Nuestras Vidas Sean Distintas**

"Hellooooo?!" Arthur called out as he came through the front door just before 8:00 that evening.

"Hey," Joan said to him quietly, her dimples showing as she stuck her head out of the kitchen.

"How's Maia?" Arthur cautiously asked his wife.

"She's great! Grab her for dinner after you change?" she called after her husband as he headed off to change his clothes.

"Yup," he hollered back on his way to their bedroom.

* * *

At least physically more comfortable in jeans and a dark green cotton sweater, Arthur took a few deep breaths before turning the knob to head down to his daughter's room. He was trying to psych himself up to talk with her - calmly - about this boy she wanted to go on a date with. Realizing that he was never really going to be ready for this conversation Arthur just shook his head and wandered down to his daughter's room.

Maia had been expecting her dad's arrival in her doorway since she heard her mother telling him to get her for dinner, and so while she had her homework spread out in front of her on her bed, mostly it was for show. She glanced at the doorway just as frequently as she glanced at her notes. "Hey dad," she called out to him when he finally appeared there.

"Hey," he tried to say casually, but it came out anything but casual.

Maia burst into laughter at her big powerful dad being this anxious. She slid off her bed, and in a few bounds, threw herself in a hug around her father. Arthur stumbled back a few steps before he caught his balance and hugged Maia back. "What's all this affection for?" he asked her happily - but also with a little confusion. While they were basically two peas in a pod, she didn't usually greet him quite this enthusiastically when he got home from work - or at least she hadn't since she was a little girl. When she'd been a toddler, and even through most of elementary school Maia would come tearing down the hall when she heard her dad come home. Launching herself into her father's arms and gleefully screaming out "Daddy!" as she did so, he'd pretend to be surprised by her every time, but to be honest, the real surprise was the first time she didn't greet him like that - sometime during 5th grade. He'd figured that she'd gotten too old for that sort of affection, but he secretly missed it. Having her greet him in essentially that same childish way now at age 14 was a happy surprise for him.

"It's to say hi, and to thank you for being protective of me," Maia told him gently.

"Ah. So you and your mom talked about me while I was at work huh?" he asked her teasingly.

"Yeah," she admitted, "You're crazy, but I guess in an endearing way."

"I'm glad you found it endearing," he replied.

"Well I find it endearing _now_, but it'll be less endearing if you try to kill Marc when he comes by to pick me up on Friday," Maia told her father with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"Coming to pick you up huh? I better look into his driving record before then," Arthur commented seriously.

"Da-ad stop it!" Maia said as she playfully slapped her dad's arm.

"Hey! If it'll make me more at ease to do a thorough background check on him, who are you to stop me?" Arthur asked his daughter, who was now standing a foot or so in front of him with her arms crossed, glaring at him in a way that made him feel like he was looking at a 14 year old Joan.

"Fine!" she huffed a little before giving him another little hug, "Dad you really need to get a grip on this though - it's ONE date. It's not like I'm getting married!" she tried to reason with him.

"It all feels the same right now," he told her in all seriousness.

Maia rolled her eyes then and broke away from her father. "Dad, come on - let's go. Mom's probably getting impatient, and I think we need the voice of reason involved in this conversation."

Arthur chuckled. "Since when did your mother become the voice of reason? I thought that_ I_ was the voice of reason?" he asked her.

Maia was a few feet ahead of him, but she stopped walking and turned to look at him. "Dad you've_ always_ been the voice of reason, but apparently when it comes to dating it's mom. Definitely mom. And by _a lot_."

Admitting that he was pretty nervous about the whole situation, he then sighed and followed after his daughter who'd already made it down the hall and had disappeared into the kitchen.

As the threesome sat around the dinner table that evening, Arthur tried to make small talk about the food, but Joan cut him off, "Thanks Arthur - but you know we have a lot we have to talk about tonight." Giving her daughter a nod Joan invited Maia to start talking, "Maia - why don't you tell your dad a little more about Marc?"

Maia did and she tried to help put her dad's mind at ease by telling him about how serious a student Marc was, and how he'd thought that maybe her parents wouldn't want her to ride in a 16 year old's car. Arthur nodded his head vigorously in response. "So dad, he offered to come down and meet you first and leave his car here if you or mom can drive us to the metro. Then we can take the blue line in to the red line, and over to Bethesda where we're going to just go to dinner and a movie. What do you think?" she asked her father then.

Arthur just stared at her for a moment before he recovered. "Joan,what did you say?" he asked his wife.

"I already told her I approve of Marc so far - but that we do need to meet him again before we let her go out with him," Joan told her husband as she tried to be enthusiastic and cheery about it.

"Okay," Arthur said as he thought. Finally he nodded and looked straight into Maia's eyes. "Maia, you can go - after we meet Marc - and I think I'd prefer you all to be on the Metro than in a car. At least for now," he told his daughter gently.

She grinned in response and leaned across the table to kiss her dad on the forehead. Then squealing with delight, she ran out of the kitchen. Joan laughed as she ran off.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Arthur hollered after her.

Halfway down the hall to her bedroom Maia realized what her father had called out. Turning around she dashed back to the kitchen. "So sorry Dad! I was just so excited, and I just wanted to tell Marc. Please can I be excused? Please?!" she asked her parents, her eyes clearly pleading her case.

"Sure," Joan told her daughter as she smiled at just how girlish and enthusiastic Maia was acting, "But hey - come back and finish your dinner after you talk to Marc!" she shouted down the hallway at her daughter's back.

"Thank you! I will! Promise! Maia yelled back as she ran into her bedroom to find her phone to text Marc.

"She's really excited. Thanks for letting her go," Joan then said sweetly to her husband as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

He didn't say anything in response, he just moved the food around on his plate. "Joan - did you say that we've already met him?" he asked her then. It had just dawned on Arthur that Joan implied that they'd already met this Marc character.

Joan chuckled a little then, causing Arthur to whip his head so that he was facing Joan directly. "What?!" he implored.

"Well. Let's just say - yes you've met Marc before - on a couple of occasions. He's Maia's math partner," Joan explained before adding, "So you know how you pushed for Maia to be in fast math in junior high? - so she could be in pre-calculus her freshman year of high school, so she could then take calculus as a sophomore and then go on to university math for her final two years?" Joan asked.

"Yeah," Arthur said clearly not connecting the dots, "She's great at math Joan, we should encourage that right? Didn't it seem like a good idea to you too - ultimately?"

"Yes," Joan agreed, "I mean I know I was worried about pushing her into fast math because of the pressure and because iit meant that socially she'd be with much older kids and away from her own friends for math, but yes. It's worked out. And socially apparently it's really worked out." She said the last phrase with a sly smile as she raised an eyebrow.

Arthur looked at her with a confused expression for a moment before everything clicked for him. "Crap!" he finally exclaimed as he let his fork clatter onto the plate, "You mean that fast math let her meet this Marc guy?"

"Exactly," Joan replied as she fought the grin forming on her face.

Arthur sighed then as she ran a hand through his hair and sat back against the back of his chair. "I only wanted her to learn MATH, not meet boys! How did she turn MATH into a dating pool?" he asked his wife.

Joan just laughed at him in response, "Because no matter what the subject, it's still high school - the whole place is a dating pool," she jested. This didn't help Arthur look any calmer, so Joan nicely added, "Hey at least she met this boy in math class, and not on the football team or something."

"Are you sure she's old enough to date?" Arthur asked his wife then, wishing she'd say no.

"Ar-thur," was all she said back to him. But she took his hand and stroked it on the table. "Marc's a good kid, and he's coming to meet us first - and he'd offered it before I even told Maia it was a ground rule," she explained in an attempt to reassure her husband that this boy seemed like a good guy so far. They sat there together like that for awhile. In fact it was only Maia practically skipping back into the kitchen that led them to break apart.

"Mom? Dad? Are you guys okay?" she'd asked as she abruptly stopped dancing into the kitchen when she saw the posture of her parents.

"We're fine. Just being sentimental about you growing up," Joan had told her daughter with a smile.

"Okay. Well I'm not _all_ grown up yet - it's just a date," Maia said as she sat back down at the table. With both of her parents just looking at her she then told them, "Marc said that if it was okay with you, he'd come by the day before so you guys can talk with him, and that way we were hoping he could meet me here at 5 on Friday. Do you think that one of you could be home then to drop us at the Metro at 5ish? That way we will have time to take the metro and get dinner before the movies. There's a 7:45 show that'll end in enough time for us to be back at the end of the blue line before 11. Is that okay?"

"That's great," Joan replied, "I'm glad Marc's making a good amount of time to meet with us first. And I'll make arrangements to be home in time on Friday."

"Thanks mom. And yeah, he's pretty family oriented, and polite," Maia said before adding on, "But you guys won't scare him or act all spy crazy right?!" She narrowed her eyes at her parents and hardened her voice a little when she asked it. She knew that her mom was acting cool about everything, but her dad was clearly not cool, and they all knew that either or both of her parents could terrify Marc if they wanted to.

"No. We'll be appropriate - right Arthur?" Joan asked her husband with an edge on her voice warning him that he'd better answer in the affirmative.

"Yes. Your mother will keep me in check," Arthur finally relented.

"Thanks guys," Maia responded as she grinned at her parents, "I'm sure Marc and I both appreciate it!"

"Now can we please talk about something else?" Arthur asked the table. Both Maia and Joan had laughed then, but also readily agreed to change topics.

* * *

That night Arthur and Joan were both in the living room scanning through some electronic versions of newspapers on their phones as they watched TV. Maia wrapped up her homework a little after 10 and changed into her pajamas and slippers. Padding down the hall and into the living room, Maia flopped onto the sofa right next to her father. "Dad?" she asked him softly as she snuggled into his side.

"What's up Miss Maia?" he asked her as he took of his glasses, and set them to the side.

"Just 'cause I'm starting to date, it doesn't mean you and I can't hang out on the weekends too right?" Maia inquired quietly.

Because she had her head on his chest she couldn't see the wide smile that appeared on his face, but she could hear it in his voice as he told her, "Definitely not!" and hugged her into him more.

"Good," she said then, "Because I'd be mad at you if we didn't keep our Sunday football dates!" Joan smiled at the sight of her teenaged daughter snuggling with Arthur, and the purity of their happiness that they were still going to spend their Sundays together.

"Hey - I'm still the same- you're the one who is doing all this growing up and has to not schedule something into that time," he teased his daughter, though he was partially serious about it.

"No way dad. Sundays with you are sacred. No dates then - ever. Promise," Maia told her father very seriously. And she meant it. Having her mother remind her about how important togetherness was to her father had also reminded Maia of just how important it was to her too. And she wanted to make sure she preserved that time with her dad.

Arthur seemed pretty pleased with Maia's declaration, and he squeezed her again telling her, "I'm going to hold you to that, because I feel the same way."

Maia looked up at her dad then and told him, "You're a little crazy, but I love you anyway dad." Then she sat up and kissed him on the cheek before hopping off the sofa. As she walked over to give her mother a kiss goodnight Maia casually told her father, "I'll always love you first - even if I start to love other boys." Joan chuckled then, and Arthur swatted her with a magazine as she walked past him on her way back to her room. "You better!" he told her. She just turned her head and flashed a grin at him, before telling her parents she was calling it a night and would be in her room watching some TV until she went to bed.

They both wished her goodnight, and once she was out of sight Joan crossed the room and cuddled up against her husband. "We have a great daughter don't we?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he admitted a little wistfully.

"She loves you to death," Joan whispered to him.

"I know," he agreed, "I love her to death too, that's why all this is so hard."

"I know," she told him then, "But you were great about it all with her just now."

"Thanks," he replied.

* * *

On Thursday at 6:30 PM Marc rang the Campbell's doorbell. Joan had decided that they should have him to dinner so they could talk with him. He showed up on the dot of 6:30 PM, and when Maia opened the door to greet him she couldn't help but grin. "Wow do you think you're like Santa or something?" she'd asked him. He had a bouquet of pink peonies in one hand, a bottle of expensive red wine in a bag, and a bouquet of gorgeous white tipped hot pink dahlias in the other hand. Marc just smiled back at Maia and told her that she looked lovely. And she did. She was in a gorgeous emerald green, cap sleeved, a-line dress. With little black heels to match the black patent leather belt she had around her waist, and trapiche emerald earrings, her complete look was pretty stunning.

"You look great too," she offered back a little shyly. And he did too. Guys didn't have quite the wardrobe choices girls had, but he was in black pants and a perfectly fitting deep purple dress shirt with a silvery gray tie. Earlier that day he'd asked Maia about how he should dress. She'd thought about for a moment and then decided that it was always better to be well dressed than too casual, and that her mother especially would appreciate a well put together outfit. So she'd told him she was going to dress up and he should too, but that he didn't need a fully suit or anything. Taking in his appearance now, Maia was impressed with how well Marc cleaned up.

"Well let him all the way in Maia," Joan called out from the kitchen, knowing that it was taking much longer than necessary for her daughter to let their dinner guest in.

"Oh sorry," Maia blushed, "Come on in and meet my parents. I know you've met before, but they're dying to get to know you for real now," she said in a rush, willing herself mentally to calm down and just be cool.

"Thanks," Marc said to her, as he put the hand with the peonies out toward her. "These are for you," he told her as she smiled at her.

Maia couldn't help it. She blushed. She took the flowers from him, thanking him for them, before leading Marc into the kitchen to her waiting parents.

"Hey Marc," Joan said brightly as she came around the island to shake his hand.

"Hi Mrs. Campbell. Thanks for having me to dinner," he said to her as he tried to keep himself from getting too nervous. Handing her the flowers he still had in his hands he told her, "I know it's not much but these are a thank you for having me - and for considering letting me take Maia out tomorrow. They're dahlias - the national flower of Mexico - where my family is from." Marc was trying to hold it together but Joan could see nervousness in his big brown eyes.

Joan smiled at Marc and took the flowers from him, and from Maia. Gathering two vases, she filled them with water, trimmed the flowers, and popped them in the vases. Setting the flowers Marc brought for her on the table, she thanked Marc for being so thoughtful. Inwardly she made a mental note of the politeness of this boy - it was definitely a point for him. As Joan bustled around the kitchen, Marc made his way over to Arthur, again extending his hand. "Mr. Campbell, nice to see you again."

Arthur eyed him suspiciously, not saying anything until he saw Joan shoot him a glare. "Nice to see you too," he finally said to Marc. Marc handed over the wine then, telling him that he didn't know anything about wine, but his father assured him this was the bottle to bring.

"So you bought me alcohol? I thought you were just 16?" Arthur asked him pointedly.

Marc blushed furiously then and shook his head, "No, no. I, I talked to my dad down in Mexico and he sent me to our wine cellar to bring this to you. He thought you'd like it," he tried to explain.

"That was very thoughtful of you and your father Marc - wasn't it Arthur?" Joan cut in before Arthur could make the situation anymore awkward.

"I suppose it was," Arthur admitted as he put the bottle on the counter.

"Can I get you a soda or anything?" Maia asked Marc, as she tried to keep her father from being any more ridiculous than he was being - at least for a little while.

"Yeah. That'd be great," Marc replied, equally as eager as Maia to get a break from Arthur Campbell's silent - and not so silent - inquisition.

Joan took her husband aside then and whispered firmly in his ear, "Cut the crap Arthur, you're scaring Marc and that won't help us get to know him." Arthur scowled at his wife then, still not liking the idea of Maia dating anyone. Though he had to admit that this Marc boy was at least polite and came armed with good gifts.

Encouraging everyone to sit and serving up dinner to the group, Joan was also the one to make the conversation in the early part of their shared dinner. They talked about Marc's family, and about school - and all that seemed to ease everyone into a more comfortable kind of conversation. And so when Arthur asked Marc what his plans were after high school, he did so in a way that didn't come off as threatening.

"College definitely," Marc told Arthur, "My parents are going to take me to see some schools over spring break this year. They're both college educated, but they went to school in Mexico, so we're sort of learning together about US universities. I'm planning to go to school in the States."

Arthur nodded at this information, and then Marc interrupted his thoughts when he continued saying, "I know it's cliche to say, but I want to be a doctor. My parents are pushing Ivy League schools, but I think I might want to stay around the DC area - I've been looking into Georgetown and George Washington a little. My family is here, and I'd like to be able to see them regularly since my mom and sister will be all alone while my dad is out of town during the week."

Arthur smiled then. He liked the way Marc seemed protective of his sister and mother - and protective without thinking that they needed protection. Rather it seemed like Marc just wanted to be close. That was good, Arthur thought, because if Maia was going to be with any guy, Arthur wanted the guy to be protective of her, but also to not ever dream that Maia couldn't actually take care of herself or really needed his protection.

"That's really sweet," Joan interjected, "I'm sure your mom would love to keep you close. I'll support wherever Maia wants to go to college when it's her turn to make those decisions, but it'd be nice to be able to see her more regularly than if she decides to take off for Berkeley or Stanford or something."

"Wow mom, have you been already been thinking about me going to college?" Maia asked her mom, "Because I'm just trying to make it through this dinner!"

"Come on Mai, you must have thought about it a little," Marc said to her then.

"Well a little, but I guess I just didn't think my parents would be thinking of getting me out of the house already - especially since they're making me bring you over to meet them before they even let me go across town with you," she teased her parents.

"I don't know Mai, that's kind of different from college. You're definitely going to college, you're definitely not going anywhere with me without permission from your parents," Marc replied as he smiled at her shyly.

"Smart man!" Arthur exclaimed. Marc smiled a little then and Maia rolled her eyes. Joan reached under the table and squeezed Arthur's knee to let him know that she thought that Marc seemed like a good kid. Arthur seemed to understand, because he reached under the table to grab her hand and squeeze it too.

"So - dessert then?" Maia asked as she saw what her parents were doing and wanted to move things along a little more quickly.

"Sure!" Joan cheerily responded, "Let me help you clear the plates and get the dessert while your dad and Marc keep talking." Joan got up then but not without giving her husband a warning look to keep it all reasonable. Maia hesitated, not sure if she really wanted to leave Marc alone with her dad - even if it was only for a few minutes.

"It's OK Maia," Arthur assured his daughter, "I'm not going to kill Marc in the few minutes you're gone."

Maia gave him a look that rivaled the ones Joan shot him, causing Arthur to chuckle a little. And with that she got up from the table and crossed the room to help her mother plate the cake. Joan watched her daughter try to focus on the cake, but continually glance back at her father and Marc. Joan was trying to trust that Arthur was being reasonable with Marc, but she too was nervous. Trying to get both their minds off the situation at the table Joan whispered to Maia, "I like Marc a lot. He seems like a great guy."

Maia blushed and smiled, telling her mother, "Yeah. I think so anyways."

Setting dessert plates in front of Arthur and Marc, Joan and Maia both slid back into their seats at the table. "Well you're both in one piece," Joan commented brightly, "I assume that you had a good conversation?"

Marc nodded as he thanked Joan for the cake.

"Yup. I think we're on the same page and that we should let him take Maia out tomorrow," Arthur reported. Part of him wanted to be cool and casual in saying this just to catch Maia and Joan off guard, but the other part of him was still in a little bit of a panic that _any_ boy was going to take Maia out, and so the tone of his voice was somewhere between firm and weird, causing both Joan and Maia to give him an odd stare before Maia thanked her dad for the permission.

"So - mom's going to meet us here and take us to the metro, and then we'll text when we're on the blue line coming home and you both will come and pick us up?" Maia asked. She wanted to be sure she asked for both of her parents to meet them when they got off the metro. Her dad needed her mom to be there to mellow him out - or at least Maia needed her mom to be there to rein her father in if he got too crazy.

"Yes," they both agreed as Joan smiled widely at Marc and Maia. Arthur just nodded and shoved some cake in his mouth.

After profusely thanking Arthur and Joan for a delicious dinner and for permission to take Maia out, Maia walked Marc to the door to say goodbye to him. "Your parents are pretty cool," he tried to tell Maia as she opened the front door for him.

Shoving him out the door, Maia quickly slipped out the front door too, closing it behind them. "You don't have to say that, I know my dad is in a total mental state about all this, I'm sorry for leaving you with him," she apologized as she walked Marc to his car in the driveway.

"It's okay, I expected it. I mean I'm asking to take his 14 year old daughter out. My dad would be the same way if someone was trying to take my sister out," Marc admitted then. This admission made Maia feel a little better - or at least less like her own father was the only crazy one. Smiling up at Marc to communicate her thanks, Maia caught her breath as she looked into his dark brown eyes that were looking down at her in a gentle, caring sort of way.

"See you tomorrow Maia," he told her then.

"See you tomorrow," she replied, turning to go back into the house. Before she'd even taken a step, however, Marc reached out and clasped her hand as he called out her name. She turned and looked at him curiously.

"You looked beautiful tonight," he told her as he blushed then.

"Uh. Thanks," she said sort of sheepishly, her mind going into overdrive as she tried to figure out what was going on in this situation.

"See you in math tomorrow," Marc said then.

"Yeah," she said awkwardly, but she flashed him a quick grin before pulling away and running back up to her front door. Once she got there she paused and turned back at him. He was still standing by his car, watching her. Giving him a little wave and another smile, she called a goodnight out to him.

He sent the same goodnight wishes back to her as she opened her front door and let herself back into her house. Maia didn't know it, but her parents did - because they were watching out of the kitchen windows - but Marc stood there a moment longer before he shook his head and got back in his car with a huge grin on his face.

* * *

Changing into pajamas, Maia crawled into bed and spent a few minutes texting her friends that she and Marc survived dinner. But when Scandal came on her eyes were glued to the flat screen TV mounted on the wall across from her bed. She was completely addicted to the show, so much so that she barely noticed her father sneak into her room. He went to say something but she gave him a look that silenced him. Taking a seat at the end of her bed then he just waited until his daughter could talk to him. "Sorry dad," she said when the commercial came on, "I just couldn't miss what was happening."

He rolled his eyes at her, but gave her a smile too. "Maia I know I'm being difficult about this dating stuff, but I just want you to know that Marc seems like a good guy," he told her as he fiddled with her comforter and didn't make eye contact.

"Thanks dad," she responded as she climbed out from under the covers and scooted down to the end of the bed to hug her father. Releasing him from a bear hug and then looking at him as she kneeled on the bed near him she asked her dad, "Want to watch the rest of the show with me?"

Arthur grinned at his daughter and she hopped off the bed to grab an extra blanket from her linen closet. Pulling her comforter back up, she hopped back up on top of her bed, patted the spot next to her at the top of the bed, and threw the blanket over her and her dad.

With his arm around his daughter's shoulder, and both of them with their legs straight out in front of them, Arthur noticed how much Maia had grown. It used to be that her feet barely reached to where his knees were, but now he saw that his feet were only about five inches away from hers. Sighing as he was reminded in just one more way how much she was growing up, he hugged her close to him.

"Dad are you scared?" Maia teased him - referring to what was happening on the television.

"Yup," he admitted, "But not of what Olivia's dealing with."

Maia threw her own arm around her dad's chest then. "Dad, I'm just growing up, not growing _away_ from you," she whispered to him sweetly.

"It all feels sort of the same right now," Arthur quietly told his daughter.

"Well. I've always been a daddy's girl - everyone knows it. That's not going to change no matter what," she told him as she gave him a squeeze. He kissed the top of her head then as they watched the rest of the episode.

"Dad it really is going to be okay. I'll always be your little girl. You've just got to also let me be a grown up," Maia told her father as the credits rolled on the TV.

"Thanks Mai," he told her softly. Maia wasn't used to her dad being so sentimental, but she could definitely tell that this whole dating thing had really taken a toll on her father, so she stayed snuggled up to her dad for a little while longer.

"So, if you're always going to be my little girl then I guess it means I can still do this," Arthur said mischievously before he pulled her face toward his and gave her a huge, noisy sloppy zerbert on her cheek.

In response Maia shrieked and shouted at her dad, "Ew! Gross! You're so disgusting! I can't believe that you just did that!" But even in her true outrage she couldn't help but smile.

Seeing her smile, Arthur grabbed her head again and went in for another zerbert. "Moooommmm! Help me!" Maia shrieked as her father laughed at her reactions.

"What is going on in here?!" Joan demanded when she got to Maia's doorway, but then she just rolled her eyes and laughed when she saw what kind of nonsense was going on between Arthur and Maia. "You two are ridiculous!' she declared as she walked away with a grin on her face.

* * *

_Thanks for following along so far. More to come for sure - and definitely this weekend. This chapter was already getting crazy long, and I thought it would be better to get something out now._


	4. Chapter 4 - When the Lights Fade Out

_Sorry for the delay! I had to figure out where The Campbells were headed next in this story. Hope you enjoy!_

**Chapter 4: When the Lights Fade Out **

It was a crisp December morning when Joan woke up to find the spot beside her in the bed cold. Before she could contemplate where Arthur was, a wave of nausea overcame her and the next thing she knew she was kneeling in front of the toilet vomiting. Feeling awful and weak, Joan was sitting on the cold tile floor of the bathroom trying to will herself to get up and brush her teeth when her daughter burst into the bathroom calling out to her.

Seeing her mother on the floor by the toilet, Maia knew what was up. Flushing the toilet she tried to give her mother a reassuring smile, but Joan didn't see it; she was holding her head in her hands trying to stop the pounding headache inside. "Come on mom," Maia tried to encourage her mother, "You'll feel better after you brush your teeth. Promise."

Joan gave her daughter a weak smile then, and took Maia's outstretched hand. Heaving herself off the floor, Joan rinsed out her mouth and brushed her teeth - all under the watchful eye of her 14 year old daughter. Finishing up she whispered, "Mai - I really don't feel good. I think I need to go back to bed." Maia nodded, wondering whether her mother actually knew why she didn't feel good. Thinking it better not to confront her with the information right then Maia just agreed with her and walked her back to bed. Curling herself into the fetal position, Joan squeezed her eyes closed as she tried to squeeze out the pain she was in. What was happening to her, she wondered.

"Can I get you anything?" Maia asked her mother cautiously.

"No. Thanks," Joan told her - her voice muffled and weak sounding.

"Okay. I'm just going to sit here for a little while then," Maia said softly as she settled herself into the whiskey colored leather club chair in the corner of her parents' bedroom. The chair had been there all her life; it had survived all three redecorations of the room that her parents had undertaken. It was more worn now than when she'd been a little girl, but it still looked good and Maia thought the wear and tear just made it softer and more comfortable. Pulling a blanket over herself as she snuggled into the chair, and then turned the brightness down on her phone so that it wouldn't bother her mother while she tracked her father's flight back to DC. When she heard her mother's breathing slow, she knew she was asleep. Maia sighed then. It had been a long night. Maia knew she should be tired, and that she should take advantage of her mother sleeping to get some sleep herself. But she couldn't get her own mind to slow down enough.

* * *

Only two months ago everything seemed to be going so well, Maia thought. She'd been on her first date, and her mother had seemed to so excited for her. In fact, her mother had taken a half day at work that Friday and done a little shopping before Maia got home from school. When her mom greeted her at the door, Maia was surprised, and then she'd been thrilled when her mother had escorted her to the living room where she had a bunch of outfits laid out. "I couldn't help myself," Joan had said excitedly - as if she was the one going on the date, "I think any of these would be fabulous choices, but I didn't know if you wanted to go dressy, casual, or what, so I got you some options." Joan gestured to all the clothes she had laid out around the room as Maia's eyes grew wide with surprise and pleasure.

"Seriously mom?!" Maia had asked as she hugged her mother, "You're the best!"

"I try," was all Joan had said as she watched Maia think about what to choose for that evening. Maia decided that casual was the way to go since they were taking the metro, and planning to grab a quick dinner before going to a movie. After a lot of deliberation about what was best, she and Joan settled on a gorgeous cobalt blue top - the sleeves were all cobalt dyed lace that ended in banded cuffs of the same color just above her elbow. The rest of the shirt was a fitted cobalt blue tank overlaid with cobalt blue lace, with a neckline to match the cuffs. Paired with her dark wash J. Brand jeans, a black tipped but otherwise graphite gray schoolboy blazer, and tall black boots, both Joan and Maia thought she'd be ready for the weather while still looking cute, and be attractive without being too much. She'd topped off her look with tiny pearl studs, and a long silver chain necklace adorned with larger pearls and silver filigree balls.

The date itself had gone well. Maia had worried she might be awkward since she'd never done anything like it before, but conversation with Marc was just as easy over dinner as it was over lunch at school or math homework. Before they'd exited the metro at their final stop on, Marc had pulled her back from the escalator that would lead them out to her waiting parents. Quickly he'd placed a small, tender kiss on her lips. A little unsure of herself, Maia had kissed him back quickly before she stepped back to just smile at him shyly. "Thanks," she'd said as she blushed, "I had a really good time tonight."

His eyes radiated warmth as she smiled back at her, "Me too. Let's do it again," he told her.

She nodded at him as she told him she'd like that. Then he'd taken her hand and pulled her toward the escalator. "We better get up there before your parents worry and come down after us," he'd teased in a way that caused her to roll her eyes. Her parents were definitely right there waiting for them when Marc and Maia exited the station, and they definitely wanted to know if the two of them had a good time, but on the short drive back to their house and Marc's waiting car, they hadn't been too awkward. Maia and Marc had told them about the movie they'd seen, and Arthur and Joan had just asked questions about it. When they got back home, Arthur had tried to walk Marc to his car, but Joan took Arthur's hand and instead led him toward the house whispering to him, "You can spy from inside, but you have to let her have this moment."

The moment was sweet, some holding of hands, a hug, and a peck on the cheek from Marc. All in all, it made Arthur's blood pressure go up, but it wasn't all he'd feared the moment to be. And by the time Maia came through the front door, both of her parents were just milling about the kitchen while Joan made some tea. Maia knew they were not as innocent as they'd been acting, but she was pleased with how they'd handled the situation overall, so she just smiled at them, rolled her eyes, and excused herself.

* * *

As Maia thought about that night and all the nights that followed, she couldn't put her finger on exactly when or why everything had gone south, but trying to figure that out gave her something else to think about as she watched her mother sleep and waited for her father to get back Stateside. Things couldn't ever be perfect for everyone at the same time in this family, Maia thought to herself. Everything was going well for her at school, with her friends, and with Marc. Her relationship with parents seemed on track too. But her parents had been tense with each other for awhile now - a little distant even. Still, she knew that her parents were prone to arguments and that their work lives added extra tension to not just their lives, but also their relationship. From what Maia had seen all her life, however, she also knew that her parents eventually worked things out and seemed to grow stronger through these ugly phases. But then last night happened and everything spun out of control.

Before she'd gone out with Marc the night before, Maia had tried to talk to her mother - to just have some conversation, but her mother was distracted. Joan apologized to Maia and told her that she was really busy with work, and then she'd excused herself to the home office. Rationally Maia knew that her mother didn't mean to be dismissive; her mind was clearly on other things. But in the moment Maia had been irritated at her mother for pushing her away, and she'd wanted to blame her mother for pushing her father away too. Maia knew enoug from her own past experience confronting her mother that confrontation - especially when her mother was upset - was not a good idea. So instead Maia had sighed and rolled her eyes, and left the house frustrated.

By the time she returned home around 11:30 that evening, Maia felt bad about how she'd left things with her mother and had promised herself that she'd just try to be patient with where her mother was emotionally. Psyching herself up for an awkward interaction with her mother, Maia was surprised when she didn't find her mother lurking around the kitchen or living room waiting up for her. Even when she was distracted, Maia knew that Joan Campbell was still always interested in having all the information, and that meant making sure she knew when Maia came home and what she'd been up while she was gone. Maia also knew that her mother didn't sleep well when she and her dad were having relationship issues, and so it would extraordinarily unlikely for her mother to have gone to bed at or before 11:30. Knocking on her parents' bedroom door, she didn't get a response. Maia didn't hear anything coming from the bedroom, but she could see that the light was on. Thinking that perhaps her mother had actually gone to bed and t fallen asleep with the light on, Maia quietly opened the door a crack. From her vantage point there she could see that her mother wasn't in bed, and that the bed was still made up. A little worried, Maia had run around the house looking for her mother, only to return to her parents' bedroom. This time she looked beyond the bed, and that's when she saw blonde hair on the floor in the bathroom. Time stood still then in Maia's world. Screaming out to her mother, Maia had burst into the bathroom to find her mother's body crumpled on the floor. She shook her mother then as she cried and yelled at her to wake up. Her mother's eyes fluttered a little, but her body was limp. Tearing through her purse to find her phone, Maia started to dial 911. Then she saw the bottle of pills on the counter by the sink.


	5. Chapter 5 - I Want to Save that Light

_My apologies for the big delay on this. Things just got too busy! Enjoy! _

**Chapter 5: I Want to Save that Light**

Maia cancelled her 911 call as she went to the sink. Checking the pill bottle she saw her mother's name and address. There were no pills in the bottle anymore, just the name of what they were - diazepam (a generic form of valium)- and that at one point there were 30 pills in the bottle. Maia knew about her mother's addiction history; she'd found out about it when she was younger and had accused her mother of having an affair with her sponsor. In coming clean, however, Joan had emphasized that it had been ages since she'd relapsed or even really thought about it. Seeing her mother passed out on the bathroom floor and the empty bottle on the bathroom counter, Maia knew that something must have gone terribly wrong. She also had a sneaking suspicion that neither her mother nor her father would want her to call 911. Not knowing what else to do, Maia dialed her father's emergency number.

* * *

Arthur was in the middle of a meeting when he felt a buzz in his jacket pocket from his phone. Total surprise was his first reaction to the buzzing; the phone he kept there shouldn't be buzzing he thought. That phone was an encrypted cell he had made for him off book so that he could make and receive calls from his family in the case of an emergency. He'd gotten the phone when Joan was pregnant with Maia but not telling anyone yet. Besides that secret, because of Joan's age the pregnancy was considered a higher risk pregnancy. She wanted a way to always be able to reach him - and a way that couldn't be tapped into. Since Maia was born, he and Joan both kept these untraceable encrypted cells so that they could always connect if something happened with Maia. The other reason Arthur kept the phone was so that he could make calls as confidentially as possible if Joan relapsed. Knowing that there was likely an emergency at home, when the phone buzzed a second time he excused himself from the conference table and stepped into the hall.

Looking down at the phone Arthur could see that his daughter was calling him. He'd only recently given Maia this number. Until then she knew how to reach him through his regular cell, but this one was something that had been just for him and Joan. With Maia growing up and going to high school, however, he and Joan had decided (much to Maia's delight) that they didn't need a babysitter for her - provided that they weren't going to be gone overnight, and so they'd decided that she should know how to access them both on these phones. When sharing the information with Maia, both Arthur and Joan had stressed how the phones would always be answered but that meant that they were ONLY to be used in the case of real emergencies. Maia hadn't used either number - until now. Taking a deep breath and accepting the call, Arthur spoke into the phone, "Maia? What happened?"

Before he heard words, Arthur heard some sniffles on the other end of the phone before Maia's wavering voice came through the phone, "Dad, you need to come home. I think mom overdosed." Once she said the words out loud, Maia broke into some shuddering sobs.

"Okay. Maia. Listen to me. I need to you tell me why you think that," Arthur tried to speak calmly into the phone. He needed more information, but he didn't want to spook Maia.

"She's practically passed out on the bathroom floor dad. The pill bottle on the sink is empty. I came home and found her like this!" Maia told her father through some silent tears as she tried to regain her composure - at least for as long as this conversation took.

"Okay. That's helpful Mai, can you get her to open her eyes or anything?" Arthur asked into the phone. And in the back of his mind, he wondered how Joan had gotten another prescription filled. He thought that they'd been in a stretch for years now where she didn't keep anything like that in the house.

"I don't know. I mean at first yeah, but, hold on," Maia said into the phone as she shook her mother's body a little and called out to her, telling her to open her eyes, "Yeah dad, yeah she can open her eyes, but not for long. It's like she's barely here." Maia shuddered as she looked at the state her mother was in.

"Okay that's good actually Mai. Now. Can you listen to me very carefully?" Arthur asked his daughter, knowing that she needed to be ready to take in the information he was about to give her. He waited to hear her verbal response in the affirmative. And once that was communicated, he told her, "I'm going to come home as soon as I can, but sweetheart it's going to take me awhile since I'm out of the country. I'll let you know when I have my flight information. Okay?" He figured he'd start with the information that would help Maia feel more comforted. Then he told her, "Now for what to do right now, I want you to wait for me to call you telling you to open the front door. When you do there will be a man there. You can call him Frank. He's going to make sure that everything is OK with your mom, and then he's going to give you some instructions about what to do to take care of her until I get there. Do you understand?"

Maia tried to hold all this information in her head, "Dad shouldn't she go to the ER?"

"No," Arthur quickly told his daughter before softening his tone, "She can't. Not for this. We can talk more about why when I'm home, but for now know that I'm getting her the best care that I can. Do you understand the plan?"

"Yeah," Maia whispered into the phone, her mind spinning with all this information.

"Okay, I'm going to hang up now so that I can get help. I'll call you back when it's there, okay?" " Arthur instructed his daughter.

"Okay," Maia told her father quietly before she heard him hang up the phone. Nothing was OK thought, she thought to herself. Shaking her mother, Maia decided that talking to her mom was the best thing for both of them, "Mom, you gotta keep your eyes open. I talked to dad, and he's coming home. You have to stay with me until then - okay? You have to. Help is coming." She just repeated these sentiments over and over as she sat next to her mother's body on that cold tile floor - willing both her mother to stay alive and her father to call her back.

On the other side of the world, Arthur hung up the phone and gave himself a few moments to just breathe and help his own world stop spinning. He was worried about Joan - and what would have ever led her to overdose; the thing about her was that even when she was abusing the pills, she knew her limit. Even in her addiction she was in control of where the line was between abuse and nearly killing herself. Arthur knew that things between him and Joan had been tense lately, but it was normal tension - tension brought on by work stress and some life stuff between him and Teo's expanded global ALC work. Arthur never thought that the tension was big enough or serious enough to lead her to this kind of drastic action. And the more he thought about it all, Arthur found that he was also angry at Joan. To do this to herself when Maia was the only family in the house - that wasn't fair to their daughter! Still, overwhelmingly Arthur felt panic and concern for Joan. After allowing himself some momentary emotional responses, he pushed the feelings down and made two phone calls. The first was to Frank - the pharmacist who was responsible for always illegally filling Joan's "prescription." When Joan had come fully clean about what was going on with her decades ago now, Arthur had gone to see Frank. With his connection to the CIA to bolster his threats, Arthur had gotten Frank to agree to (a) not fill Joan's prescription any longer, and (b) to always be on call to illegally prescribe her whatever she'd need if she overdosed. That way everything could be taken care of off book. Of course it would be better to get Joan to the ER, but to do that would do irreparable damage to her career, and so Arthur had decided that having this back up plan was something he had to do for Joan.

After arranging for Frank to get over to the house immediately and care for Joan, Arthur booked himself a flight home that evening. Maia would have to see her mother through the night alone, but after a short layover in JFK, Arthur would be back home by lunchtime the next day. Armed with that information, and after receiving word from Frank that he was in the driveway, Arthur called Maia back.

When her phone rang it seemed like she'd been waiting for hours for the call, but in truth it was only 17 minutes.

"Dad?!" she said into the phone breathlessly.

"Yeah. It's me, "Arthur said into the phone, "Go open the front door Maia."

As she got up and walked toward the front door, Arthur didn't dare ask about how Joan was doing - he was both scared to know, and trying not to have Maia think too hard about it. So instead he just talked at her, telling her how she was doing a good job and that everything was going to be okay.

When Maia opened the front door for Frank she didn't know what she expected, but she expected more than a slightly overweight White man in jeans and a fleece jacket. "Who are you?" she asked the man.

"Your father sent me. I'm Frank," the man said as he extended a hand to Maia. She didn't take it, just nodded and opened the door wider so that Frank could come into the house.

"Where is she?" Frank asked then, and Maia took him down to the bathroom where her mother was.

As Frank went to work on her mother, injecting her with Flumazenil to counteract all the valium in her system, he spoke quietly to Maia. He'd never thought of Joan as anything other than a woman with a habit and the ability to pay for it. Seeing how distraught Maia was though made he really reconsider having ever supported Joan's habit. "She just takes Valium," Frank told Maia, "That's a good thing because it takes an extraordinary amount of valium to actually kill yourself." He hoped that would be comforting, but Maia just looked at him like he was crazy. Continuing he tried to explain more what he meant. "Even if your mom took that whole bottle, it's only 30 pills. As long as she responds to this," he said gesturing to what he was injecting into Joan's veins, "she'll be sleepy and she might have a headache and have some hot flashes or nausea, but she'll be back to normal in about 48 hours."

"When will you know if it's working?" Maia asked Frank just as quietly as he'd been speaking to her. He was speaking quietly in an attempt to be soothing, but her quiet tones were more the result of anxiety.

"In a minute or two - definitely in about 6-10 minutes; this is fast working stuff," he told her then in a way that was encouraging. She nodded in response, and just sat next to her mother's body and held her hand.

Maia was so focused on searching her mother's body for a response to the Flumazenil that she'd forgotten that she hadn't hung up the phone with her father. And so when her mother's eyes fluttered open and she started coughing it was her father's voice anxiously asking, "What's happening? What's going on Maia?" that reminded her that he was still on the line.

"I don't know. I think she's coming back dad," she said into the phone as she watched her mother become more and more alert. Frank was talking to her then, trying to see if she'd stay with him. He knew that the better treatment would be in the ER where they could have pumped her stomach and then given her activated charcoal. But without the ability to go to the ER the Flumazenil would get her alert enough to take some syrup of ipecac and start her vomiting. He just needed to make sure she had enough Flumazenil to keep her from re-sedating while he got her to vomit up all the pills she'd taken.

Arthur stayed on the phone with Maia throughout this process. He'd had to excuse himself entirely from his meetings and return to his hotel room, but he never got off the phone with his daughter. For the most part they were both silent - just letting their breathing ping off satellite towers and into each other's phones. Arthur would break the silence from time to time to ask what was happening, but mostly they just sat and waited together. After about an hour and a half, the Flumazenil had seemed to work, and Frank had given Joan enough ipecac to get her to throw up what looked like everything she had in her system. Helping her to bed, and getting some electrolytes into her system, Frank gave Maia and Arthur instructions on what to look for and how to care for Joan, and to call him back if everything went south. He'd come back and see if he could do anything. Then taking the phone from Maia he'd spoken directly to Arthur - trying to remind Arthur that he wasn't actually doctor, just a pharmacist, and that Arthur should really get Joan a doctor. Arthur hadn't taken it all terribly well, reminding Frank that he was the reason why Joan needed any medical care. That seemed to shut Frank up, and he left in a hurry.

As Frank spoke with her father, Maia crawled into bed next to her mother. Frank had assured them all that her mother was going to come through this just fine, but as she got under the covers, Maia was afraid to get to close to her mother, afraid that she was still in a fragile state, and afraid to hurt her. So instead of snuggling up beside her mother, Maia just curled up near her and held her mother's hand.

When Frank passed the phone back to Maia and left to let himself out, Maia was half surprised to find her father still on the other end of the line. "Mai," he'd said into the phone, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay," Maia responded. She paused then before telling her dad, "I'm glad that it sounds like mom is going to be okay."

Arthur nodded his head before remembering that they were on the phone, and so Maia couldn't see his nonverbal response. "Me too," he agreed. They stayed together on the phone for a few more minutes, both of them thinking about whether they should broach the subject of why Joan had done this. Ultimately it was Arthur who put voice to his questions, "How was your mom before you went out tonight?" Arthur asked as gently as possible.

Maia intuited what he was really asking, "I don't know dad. She was like she's been these last couple weeks. You know? - not great but not really bad, just like brooding." Maia mentally reviewed the evening and the days before, trying to scan her memories for signs that something bigger was up with her mom. "Dad," she finally said very seriously, but quietly, "If I knew she was going to do this I wouldn't have gone out. You know that right? I really didn't think anything was all that wrong." Putting her fears into words, Maia finally let loose some of the tears that she'd been holding back as she tried to put on as brave a face as she could for Frank and for her dad.

Hearing his daughter break down thousands of miles away, and hearing that she was afraid she'd missed something broke Arthur's heart. As Maia cried into the phone, Arthur felt so helpless. He was used to always being the guy with the plan of just what to do and the ability to will things to happen the way he thought they should. But as a father he'd had to learn that he couldn't protect Maia from everything, and the situation right now was just the most dramatic example of that lesson for him. Other than assuring Maia that this was not her fault, Arthur didn't know what to do besides just talk to his daughter. And so he just launched into a long monologue of things - telling her about his flight and that he'd be there as soon as he could, telling her about the food he'd been eating, telling her that he was proud of her, telling her about just about anything he could think of.

Once Maia sounded like she'd calmed down, Arthur gently asked her how her mother was doing. Telling her father that she was still sleeping, he sighed and asked her if she could wake her mom up. Maia seemed confused by this request, but Arthur told her that it was the middle of the night and so they should probably get off the phone so she could sleep, but that they should make sure her mom was doing okay, and that required making sure that she'd wake up. So Maia shook her mother a little, and tried to talk her awake. She tried to do it softly; she wanted to wake her mother as gently as possible. And slowly Joan woke up, her eyes blinking awake and blinking at the light. She tried then to turn away from the light. "Mom," Maia whispered, "Dad's on the phone. He wants to talk to you." Then Maia put her dad on speaker phone and let him talk to his wife. He knew Joan wouldn't remember any of the conversation, but he needed to know that her brain was working, so he asked her a couple of questions and once he had cogent responses, he told his wife he loved her and that he'd be home soon. She made a little groaning sound and mumbled a good night response. Taking the phone off speaker then, Maia asked her dad if there was anything else she should do. Other than get some sleep herself, Arthur couldn't think of anything. Maia insisted insisted that she wasn't sleepy, but about 40 minutes later he could hear her breathing shift into the deeper, slower breathing of sleep. He hung up as quietly as possible then as he packed his own bag and headed to the airport to catch his flight back to DC.


	6. Chapter 6 - While You Were Sleeping

**Chapter 6: While You Were Sleeping**

Joan was drifting in and out of sleep and feeling like she was going through menopause. Hot one minute, freezing the next. She just couldn't get comfortable enough to stay asleep, but when she was awake she felt exhausted, run down, and like her body wouldn't survive without more sleep. She heard Maia's phone ding and momentarily wondered why her daughter was in bed with her, but then sleep took over again.

* * *

It was a text message from Marc that woke Maia up. It was just a simple good morning text, but it made Maia smile. She responded with a smiley face, and he asked her what she was up to and if she wanted to get coffee later. Neither of them really liked coffee - well they liked the coffee that Marc's mom made - cafe de olla - but they liked that because it tasted more sweet and cinnamon flavored than coffee flavored. Going to "get coffee" was more of a code for going to the local Starbucks to get some flavored beverage and hang out. It just sounded much cooler to ask about getting coffee than asking about going to get hot chocolate or something. Maia wanted to say yes, but as she looked sleepily over at her mother she knew it wasn't a good idea. She texted Marc back a sad face and told him she couldn't go because her mom was sick and her dad was still out of town. Marc said he understood, and that message brought a smile back to Maia's face. One of the things that was great about Marc was that because his dad was gone all week every week, he understood about parents' jobs being weird, and about sometimes having to be home to take care of things because of it. Checking the time then, Maia slipped out of her parents' bed and wandered around the house making sure everything was picked up before her dad got home.

* * *

The moment the plane's wheels hit the runway at Dulles Airport, Arthur had his phone out. By the time the plane was at the gate he'd already been in communication with Maia to let her know that he'd landed, and he'd called his favorite car company so that there would be a car waiting for him when he walked out of the airport. The plane door opening was like a starting pistol going off for him, he dashed out of his first class seat and took off through the airport, hating the fact that he had to wait in a line to go through customs _and _for the little in airport train to come and whisk him to the landside terminal. Once safely inside his waiting car, however, he took a breath and tried to get himself ready for what awaited him at home.

* * *

When Maia saw the text message from her dad saying he was in the car and on his way home, she hopped out of the chair in which she'd been curled up in as she'd watched her mom sleep. After having to run back to the room after she heard her mom up and throwing up earlier in the morning, Maia had decided she should stay nearby her mom just in case something else happened. It was a good decision, as her mom had run into the bathroom to throw up twice more that morning. Needless to say, she was filled with relief when she saw that her dad was really and truly almost home.

Sneaking out of her perch across from her mother and then padding down to the kitchen in her socks, Maia climbed up on the counter so she could watch out the front windows for the car bringing her dad home. As she settled herself on the cold granite countertop she smiled as she recalled all the other times she'd sat in the same spot waiting for her father. When she was a little girl she'd always looked forward to her dad coming home from work, and as particular as her mother had been about absolutely everything in her life, she'd still often lifted up an eager Maia and allowed her to sit on the counter by the sink and watch for her dad to come home. It was a happy memory, and it was a good reminder of better times with her family. The sight a black town car coming down the road snapped Maia out of her memories. It was a freezing winter afternoon, but Maia didn't care that she didn't have on a coat or shoes; she went flying out of the house to greet her dad as he opened the car door.

"Hey there crazy girl," Arthur greeted her as he enveloped her in a hug and lifted her a few inches off the ground, "You trying to freeze yourself to death?" His eyes twinkled as he spoke to her and checked out her shoeless feet. After listening to Maia on the phone yesterday, and after all the traveling he'd done, being able to actually see and hug his daughter was a comfort.

"I'm so glad you're home," Maia whispered to him as she tightened her grip around her father.

"Here," he said to her as he handed his daughter his coat - which she eagerly took - and then he walked her inside the house after paying and thanking his driver.

* * *

After getting himself a glass of water, and pouring one to take down to his wife, Arthur turned to look at his daughter. Maia had followed him into the kitchen and was just standing there, watching him and feeling unsure of what she should be doing. "How's your mom doing this morning?" he asked Maia.

"Okay I think," Maia started. She wanted her mother to be okay - maybe more for her dad than even for her mom. Her dad looked exhausted. And anxious. Maia knew that it had been an emotional night, but she was still surprised when she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Hey hey hey," Maia heard her father say to her as he set down the water glasses and quickly cross the few feet between them to hug her again. "It's going to be okay," Arthur told her repeatedly as he rubbed Maia's back and let her just cry into his chest. As he said this over and over to his daughter, Arthur was trying to soothe Maia but also trying to convince himself that it was all going to be okay too. He still didn't even know what the all was, but he knew that it needed to be all okay - for himself, for Maia, and for Joan. Joan was critical of everyone and everything, but no person or thing was the object of more of her criticism than her own self. Arthur knew this about her, and knew that besides helping her recover, he needed to help Joan feel better about herself and not let her beat herself up once she realized just what she'd tried to do. Arthur knew that Joan loved him, but that Maia was the person she loved the most in the world. He also knew that from the moment Joan found out she was pregnant with Maia she'd worried that she wouldn't be a good enough mother, that she was doing things to irreversibly screw up her child. Learning that Maia was the one to find her on the bathroom floor - and that she was alone when she made the discovery would undo Joan. Helping her through all that guilt was going to be a seriously important task.

"You want to take me down to see your mom?" Arthur finally asked Maia when he felt like she was calming herself down. With a little nod, she started down to her parents' bedroom.

"Dad?" Maia ventured as she walked along the hall with him.

"Yeah?" he responded.

"Can we talk before we go in there?" she asked her father as she gestured toward the bedroom door.

"Sure," Arthur replied patiently. He wanted to burst into his bedroom and be with his wife, but he could see that his daughter really needed another minute or two. And he knew that she'd been the one to not just find her mother on the bathroom floor, but also to have to be her nurse. Maia had definitely been through hell this weekend, and it was only Saturday afternoon. Maia backed herself up against the hallway wall, and Arthur stood in front of her and gave her a little smile to encourage her to start talking.

"Dad I didn't tell you the truth before," she whispered as the tears started forming again.

Concern flashed across Arthur's face and when Maia saw it she threw herself at her dad again and let herself cry some more, "I'm sorry dad, I'm so sorry," she cried as she apologized into her father's sweater.

"Mai, you don't need to be sorry about anything sweetheart, you did everything right yesterday," Arthur tried to console Maia, but she seemed so upset. "Shhh, shhh you didn't do anything wrong Mai," he tried.

"I was just so scared," Maia finally choked out as she tried to calm herself back down, "And I stayed with her all night dad, I really did, but this morning I got up for only like 10 minutes and when I came back she was throwing up. I didn't leave her again, I promise, but I didn't know what to do. She wasn't okay. She threw up three times this morning. I didn't know what to do. I just wanted you to come home," she told her dad - her voice sounding desperately sad.

Arthur hugged her tightly for a moment, or as tightly as he could with a glass of water in his hand. Pulling back from his daughter and looking down at her, Arthur tilted her chin up so they were looking at each other. "Maia, you did great. Okay?"

Finally Maia whispered back an okay, and so Arthur just kissed her on her forehead and told her, "I'm sorry I wasn't here yesterday sweetheart, but I'm home now and I'm going to go take care of your mom - and she is going to be okay. Okay?" She nodded again, and so he told her, "Why don't you take a few hours off from being your mom's caretaker. Go take a shower or a nap or something. I'll take over for you."

This time Maia nodded and gave her dad a half smile. "Thanks dad," she told him quietly. He nodded at her then and she went back down the hall to her own room.

Alone in the hallway, Arthur took a deep breath before turning the knob and entering his room. He didn't know what sort of scene he was expecting but it wasn't the serene one in front of him. After all the drama of the night before, seeing his wife sleeping quietly in bed felt anticlimactic. Slipping off his shoes and his sweater, Arthur climbed into bed next to his wife. She was sleeping on her side - facing away from him, so he reached out and put his arm around her sleeping body. "I'm so sorry about everything Joan," he whispered to her, "I'm home now and I'm not going anywhere until you get everything you need from me." He thought he saw her stir, but there were no further movements from her body, so he just laid beside her and tried to will her better.

* * *

Maia was really glad her dad was home and taking over caring for her mom, but she had to admit that she wasn't actually sure of what to do with herself now that she was off the hook so to speak. Walking around her room she looked at her backpack and thought about homework, but decided to lie down for a minute to think about what to do with herself. Apparently she hadn't realized just how tired she was, because the next thing she knew her phone was dinging, alerting her to a new text message - and the fact that 40 minutes had passed her by. Opening the message she grinned. It was Marc - telling her to go look outside her front door. Maia popped into her bathroom, swished some mouthwash around her teeth, ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to bring some life back to her curls, checked out her appearance in the mirror. It was going to have to do, she thought as she made her way to the front door. Checking for her dad and not seeing him anywhere around, she opened the door to find a rather chilly looking Marc on her front steps - hands holding a little cardboard drink tray from Starbucks. "I know you said you couldn't go out," he said to her shyly, "so I thought I'd bring some Starbucks to you. No pressure to spend a lot of time with me, I know your mom needs you, but I thought I'd see if we could have a drink together."

Maia bent forward at the waist to peck Marc on the cheek, "It sounds like a perfect idea. Thank you," she told him as she re-opened the door she'd closed behind her and led him into the kitchen. "My dad just got home from China. He's with my mom right now, so I think we have a little bit of time before he comes out and finds you here," she teased her boyfriend.

Marc just grinned at her and handed her a drink. "Peppermint mocha for you - or do you want the gingerbread one?" he asked her.

"Peppermint," she told him as she took the cardboard cup from him and took a sip, smiling at the minty sweetness of the drink. "You're pretty great," she told him, bringing a smile to his face again.

The two of them sat together in silence for a moment as they sipped their holiday flavored drinks. They had easy silences between them, and so it wasn't actually until Marc spoke that things got a little awkward - or at least started to feel a little awkward to Maia. When Marc asked her what happened with her mom, and was she doing okay, Maia didn't know quite what to say. She knew that her mother's issues were just that - hers, and that Maia should protect her mother's privacy. Over the years she'd gotten practice at keeping her parents' secrets, but this particular one - or rather what had happened last night - was harder to just keep to herself. She wanted to be able to talk to someone about how scared she was when she found her mom, and how worried she still was about her. Even though it seemed like her mom was going to be okay physically, Maia worried about what caused her mom to act the way she had, and whether or when it could happen again. But she also wanted to honor her mother's privacy; she felt obliged to, and so she knew she had to lie a little to Marc. And that felt like the best thing to do in the situation, but it didn't make it feel right. She told him that her mom had just been really sick (true), ad that she'd found her in the bathroom last night (true), and that she'd been up vomiting most of the night and morning (true). All of it was true, it was what she didn't say that made it feel bad to Maia when she said it. Although certainly new to relationships with boys, she knew that half truths were the same as lies, and that even though she was doing it for a good reason, it still made her feel like, in some way, she was betraying Marc.

"That sounds awful," he'd said to her then, "You were good to stay with her and help her out."

Maia shrugged her shoulders in response and told Marc, "You know how it is - you just have to do what you have to do."

He nodded as if she'd said something wise and then realized that he didn't know what to say next. Maia seemed to realize what was happening and so she tried to pick up the conversation. Both of them were relieved to change gears and talk about school stuff and friends. After about twenty minutes Maia thought she heard something from down the hall. Freezing and trying to listen, Marc sensed what she was doing. "You think your dad is coming down?" he asked her. Marc wasn't exactly afraid of Arthur, but he still wasn't sure that just showing up uninvited was something that Arthur would appreciate - especially under the current set of circumstances.

"I don't know. Maybe," Maia whispered to him.

"Okay. Well I should probably get going anyway," Marc told her a little hurriedly, "Tell your mom I hope she feels better soon?"

"Sure," Maia said smiling at Marc as she walked him to the door. Once he was on the other side she leaned out from the doorstep to give him a little kiss and thank him for the drink. And then because she just couldn't help herself she teased him, "Are you afraid of my dad Marc?"

At first Marc just shook his head, but Maia gave him a look she must have inherited from her mother. A look that said, "You are so totally lying but I'm not going to tell you that, I'm going to make you admit it." And the look worked. "Okay fine, maybe a little bit, but come on - any guy you date will be afraid of your dad Mai. He's like in charge of the CIA basically. He could kill me and totally get away with it!" Marc made his case.

Maia just laughed at him and told him, "Nah. He won't do that. He'd have to deal with me killing him then."

Marc leaned in and kissed her then. It was a longer, deeper kiss than they'd shared before, and when he stepped back, Maia blushed. Grinning at her, Marc turned and called back a goodbye as he got into his car.

When Maia closed the front door, she leaned against it hard - processing what had just happened, and still blushing furiously.

_Sorry for only getting to update about once a week. Will try to post another chapter this weekend!_


	7. Chapter 7 - Little Talks

**Chapter 7: Little Talks**

When she woke up next Joan had that awful sensation of not knowing where she was. And she felt a little hungover. As she felt around in the dark she realized that she was in her own bedroom. What time is it, she thought to herself. Reaching for the light switch on the lamp on her bedside table she breathed in sharply when she saw the shock of dark hair on the pillow beside hers.

Blinking as he tried to adjust to the sudden brightness that had awakened him, Arthur resorted to squinting at his wife who was now sitting up on her side of the bed, looking totally surprised. "Hey," he mumbled as he reached for her hand.

Pulling back from him and getting up so she was standing beside the bed - on her side - Joan asked him a curtly, "What are you doing here Arthur?" She really wondered. As she mentally scanned her calendar she knew that Arthur was supposed to be gone for a week, and no matter how sick she seemed to have been, a whole week shouldn't have passed her by.

Shocked by his wife's curtness and her question, Arthur swallowed as he tried to figure out how best to proceed. "Joan," he started softly, "I came back to be with you."

Her rolling eyes cut him off. With a little sarcastic grunt she started in on her husband, "You came back to be with me? Please. Arthur stop trying these juvenile moves to get me to let you back in bed with me."

Arthur just shook his head. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought. He understood why Joan was "skeptical" of his motives and actions. They'd been icy with each other for the last few weeks. He and Teo were trying to reconcile their own relationship - well maybe reconcile was too strong a statement. He wanted to reconcile with Teo, but Teo wasn't there yet. Still Teo had been open to at least meeting with him and talking about work strategies. In and of itself, this was a huge step for the two who might share some common enemies, but did not get along well with each ever since Teo decided that his father was only interested in him as a spy, not as a son. Joan was touchy about Teo, but she tried to be understanding if only because she knew how much it meant to her husband that he try to repair his relationship with his son. Teo had a safehouse in China and Arthur had agreed to meet him there covertly while he was in the country for some overt business. Joan had supported that, but Arthur knew the last straw had been when Gina ran into Joan and let slip that Arthur had asked her to come with him. That information was what led Joan to kicking him out of the bed - nearly two weeks ago.

Joan looked on with disdain as her husband shook his head and seemed to be reviewing events in his mind. Rolling her eyes Joan harshly went after her husband, "Stop just shaking your head Arthur! I'm not the one who ran off with my ex, so I could be with her and my secret child!" The anger and hurt she had a vague memory of feeling the night before came back to her as she cut at him with her words. "Did Gina get sick of you too? Is that why you came back to me?" she asked haughtily.

At that Arthur stopped shaking his head and looked up at his wife sadly. Standing there, her blonde hair tangled but still pretty and her eyes full of blue fury, Arthur realized that Joan really had no idea what had gone on since Friday night. "Joan," he said as gently as he could.

This time Joan looked at him, really looked at him, and she could see deep sadness in his eyes. Deciding to stop her own tirade since Arthur looked exhausted and awfully sad, she sighed and instead asked him in a resigned voice, "What Arthur?"

"Do you really not know why I'm here?" he asked her carefully - his eyes pleading with her to know the answer to his question. But she didn't. She furrowed her brow as she tried to figure him out. So Arthur offered, "How are you feeling?" He paused there as Joan looked at him questioningly but less so than when he'd asked her the first question, because honestly she wasn't feeling well. "Joan, I came home to take care of you. I came home to be with you," he continued. He desperately wanted her to be the one to realize what had happened. He didn't want to have to tell her she'd tried to kill herself.

After a long silence, during which Arthur watched the fury dissipate in his wife's eyes, Joan met Arthur's eyes and quietly told him, "Honestly I feel pretty hungover." She could feel his eyes searching for more information and so after some stops and starts she said to him, "What's going on Arthur?"

Taking a deep breath, Arthur patted the bed and told Joan, "I think you might want to sit down for this."

"Arthur I'm a big girl, I'm sure I can take whatever news you have standing up," Joan told her husband - a little annoyed at just how dramatic he was being.

"Joan. I just flew here from halfway around the world on a last minute plane ticket - to be with you - so please just sit down. I might be a jerk sometimes, but I do know you. And I do love you. And I know you need to sit down for this," he told her emphatically - a little impatient with his wife's stubbornness.

With a little huff Joan sat and glared at her husband. "Thank you," he offered. Then after another deep breath Arthur reached out and took Joan's hand, "Joan - something happened last night. You were home alone, but I had to call Frank and send him over so he could help you," he explained as gently as he could. "Do you really not remember anything?" he asked again - but this time with love in his voice.

Joan shook her head at first, but then her breath caught. Arthur saw the glimmer of fear that shot through Joan's eyes then. "Frank?" was all she said back to him though.

"Yeah. You know - your Frank - from the pharmacy," Arthur told her haltingly.

"Oh my god," was all Joan said before she got up and dashed into the bathroom. Hearing her husband voice Frank's name brought back a flood of feelings, and she knew instantly what had happened - what she'd done. How she'd blocked it out until now, she wasn't sure, but then she'd always been good at just partitioning off her feelings and parts of her life.

Untangling himself from the sheets and running after her Arthur caught up with her after she'd already stopped at the double sinks. The empty pill bottle was still there. Maia had cleaned up, but apparently didn't think to put away the bottle. In the mirror Arthur could see tears flowing silently but freely down Joan's face. Putting his arms around her waist, he kissed her neck and whispered to her, "It's going to be okay. You're going to be fine. I'm so sorry Joan." Arthur wished he knew the exact right thing to say to his wife, but he didn't, so he just wanted to assure her that everything was going to be fine.

Pushing Arthur's arms away, Joan spun herself around to look at her husband, "Maia?" she asked. She didn't need him to speak an answer she could see it in his eyes that looked like they would break from the sadness there. Crumpling into her husband's chest then, Joan let herself sob. She wasn't a big crier, but that was because she wasn't one to cry for herself too much, but she hated to think about how much fear and pain she'd caused her daughter. Arthur hugged his wife's heaving body. He knew she'd hate to know that Maia found her, but he didn't expect quite this emotional a response. "She's okay Joan. She called me and she did a great job with you, me, and Frank. She's a good kid," he told her, trying to reassure her that Maia was okay.

They stood there for a long time. When Joan finally stepped back from her husband's embrace, she turned back toward the sink. She didn't say anything, and Arthur just watched as she washed her face, and after toweling it dry, examine the puffiness and redness around her eyes. Arthur wracked his brain for what to say next, and finally all he could come up with was to tell her, "Joan, I'm so sorry for everything I did to make you feel that bad. I love you more than anything, and I've done a shitty job of showing you that. And I'm just glad I'll get another chance to show you how much you mean to me." Joan watched her husband apologize in the mirror, and he watched her watch him.

Slowly turning to face him, Arthur watched his wife intently. "Yes. You've been really shitty lately," she said flatly and without making eye contact. "But," she said as she lifted her eyes to his, "We will have time to talk all that out. I'm just, I'm just pretty tired right now." And with that she dropped her gaze again. She really was exhausted. She knew that sometimes she used "tired" as an excuse to not deal with her husband, but right now she knew she really was too tired to talk about anything as serious as what they needed to talk about.

Arthur saw that she was genuinely worn out, and he figured some time to rest would be good for him too. "Okay. Yeah. I suppose that's to be expected," he stuttered as he awkwardly reached out to try to help Joan back toward the bed. She let him, and thanked him quietly when he lifted the sheets up so she could climb back in the bed. Flipping off the light and kissing his wife lightly on the cheek, Arthur walked across the room and flopped into the chair that Maia had spent most of the day in.

"Arthur?" Joan called out into the dark, her voice sounding smaller and more unsure of itself than he was used to.

"Yeah?" he asked into the darkness. He was unsure of what she'd say next. They'd gone from her sobbing over learning her daughter was the one to find her half unconscious on the bathroom floor, to just agreeing with him that he was pretty shitty. Really anything could come next.

After a moment of silence Joan worked up the nerve to continue speaking. "Come to bed with me?" she asked softly. She knew she'd been awfully cold to him, and no matter how hurt she felt by his behavior these past few weeks, she knew that she needed him now - perhaps more than before. And he'd clearly been ready to be there for her; after all he'd flown all the way from the other side of the world to be here with her now.

Arthur didn't say anything in response. He just got up and slid into the bed beside his wife. "I'm sorry too," she whispered as she felt him put his arm around her.

"I know," he replied as he hugged her under the covers. Feeling her start to cry again, Arthur squeezed her more tightly telling her, "I am really sorry Joan. I wish I had done things so differently. I love you so much."

"Thanks for coming home," Joan said through her tears, "I shouldn't have let things get so out of control," she cried.

Arthur let his wife cry as he tried to just reassure her that everything was going to be okay and better than before. But when, in a voice still ragged from crying, she said, "I shouldn't have been so stupid," Arthur shook her a little telling her that she wasn't stupid.

"No Arthur, I was. I can see that now," Joan told him more emphatically. Arthur knew that when Joan was like this he shouldn't get in her way. She'd told him that enough times, and so he stayed quiet, just holding her as she explained in the strong voice he recognized from her work self, "I got an envelope yesterday. Manila. There were pictures of you, Gina, and Teo in it, and of you and Gina. - from your trip. You looked so happy with her, and the three of you looked like - well like a family. There was a note in it that I'm now sure was from Henry. All it said was "Looks like a happy family doesn't it Joanie?" And it did! All I could think was how you'd invited Gina to go with you to China, and how much you've wanted to be on good terms with Teo. I guess all the stress was just too much, and then when I called you didn't pick up, and so I just thought that maybe you'd find your family with them. I know we haven't been on good terms with each other for a little while now. I was so afraid you'd chosen them. I'm so sorry Arthur," she finished, finally allowing herself to cry a little more.

"Oh Joan," was all Arthur could say in response because he could feel tears in his own eyes. He knew that he often forgot that Joan was as sensitive as she was; she was so good at masking her feelings. Her cold, take no prisoners exterior was just her exterior, underneath she was complicated, sensitive, and unsure of how to always express her feelings. Clearly, Arthur realized that he'd really gone about everything wrong these last few weeks, and he'd hurt Joan in ways that he didn't even know about until now.

"I know. I was SO stupid, and then I went and probably scarred Maia for life!" Joan cried as she started to mentally beat herself up for all the ways she'd screwed up yesterday.

"No Joan, no," Arthur tried to convince her, "You weren't stupid. I didn't give you anything to help you think anything different. I'm sorry. I should have explained more. I WAS happy with Teo in China, and I was happy with the way Gina was able to help us out because she knows China. But Joan I love YOU. Remember - I left her for you. I love you more than I let you know." He hugged her tightly then and told her, "I guess I should do a better job of letting you know huh?"

Tears still flowing, but without missing a beat Joan replied, "You think?" as she felt a smile forming despite her tears. "I love you too," she whispered to her husband.

"I know," he said to her then - her usual response when he told her that he loved her. There was still so much more to talk about, but this conversation had been a good start. He knew that just Gina jealousy wasn't likely the whole story. That sort of thing was something to make Joan yell or kick him out of bed, not to end her life. But at least Arthur had a better idea of what was going on for Joan, and at least it seemed like they were on the road to reconciling with each other. He felt her breathing change, and in not too long he could tell that she was sound asleep.

Arthur let himself lie there in the darkness for a little while longer. He was glad to be home with his family. He'd always wish that things had worked out differently between himself and Teo, but Joan and Maia were his family now. Teo was his son, but this was his family and he needed to do a better job of making sure Joan knew that.


End file.
